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Tom Started to Climb and the Children Followed 


The Golden Palace 
of Neverland 

By WILL ROBINSON 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
CLARA D. DAVIDSON 



NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

31 West Twenty-third Street 

I 9°7 


01 - mi?. 



pSpSaY of CONGRESS ' 
j, Two Coofes Roceivert 

] MAY 29 1 90r 

j*7. Copyright prtry 
J+M*. X °* 'foV 
CLASS A XXc M No. 

/ b fD^“7 | 

COPY B. ‘ S 


Copyright , 1907 
By E. P. Dutton & Co. 



The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 


Chapter I 

PAGE 

The Fairy Godmother i 

Chapter II 

The Magic Raft 12 

Chapter III 

Crinkle and Crankle 18 

Chapter IV 

The King’s Signet Ring 30 

Chapter V 

The Escape from the Palace .... 45 

Chapter VI 

Aunt Tilly’s Garden 54 

Chapter VII 

In the Forest 64 

Chapter VIII 

The Gnomes’ Cave 76 

iii 


IV 


Contents 


Chapter IX 

King Geradar 

PAGE 

. 86 

Chapter X 

The Escape from the Gnomes’ Cave 

. 99 

Chapter XI 

Running the Guard 

104 

Chapter XII 

The Proclamation 

. 118 

Chapter XIII 

The Magic of the Harp .... 

• ! 3 ° 

Chapter XIV 

The Coronation 

. 144 

Chapter XV 

Back to Bonadventure .... 

. 156 

Chapter XVI 

Queen Nepta’s Invitation .... 

. 159 

Chapter XVII 

The Goats of Nussuchplace 

. 172 


Contents 


v 


Chapter XVIII 
When Nussuchplace Awoke 

page 

. . 183 

Chapter XIX 

The Pie and Cake Palace 

. . 197 

Chapter XX 

The Rain 

. . 208 

Chapter XXI 

The Little Green Lady 

. . 218 

Chapter XXII 

At the Coral Court .... 

. 228 

Chapter XXIII 

Birthday Boxes 

. . 232 

Chapter XXIV 
Mother Goose Express 

. . 242 


Chapter XXV 

The Old Woman that Lived in a Shoe . 254 

Chapter XXVI 


Mother Goose 


264 


VI 


Contents 


PAGE 

Chapter XXVII 

Crinkle’s Story 273 

Chapter XXVIII 

The Hundred Islands 285 

Chapter XXIX 

King Jack and Princess Dorothy . . 296 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING PAGE 

The Christening 8 

The Rescue 54 ^ 

The Children are Set Free I 54 / 

The Little Green Lady 220 

Mistress Neptita 236 

Tom Started to Climb and the Children 

Followed ( Frontispiece ) 249 ^ 


vii 



































THE GOLDEN PALACE 
OF NEVERLAND 


CHAPTER I 

THE FAIRY GODMOTHER 

VTO wonder Jack and Dorothy were 
excited. First the fishermen com- 
menced to drop hints, then old Lista 
talked to them with many nods and 
shrugs of shoulders, and finally, Toma, 
the goatherd, grew so mysterious over 
the affair that the children could hardly 
stand it. There was only one way to 
find out, so they went straight to 
Grandmother herself. 

“ Please, Grandmother, we want to 
know so much. Did we really have a 
fairy godmother ?” 


2 The Golden Palace 


Grandmother seemed scarcely to 
have heard them. She was watching 
some fat Bonadventure babies, who 
were playing on the beach, which was 
just visible from Grandmother’s vine- 
covered porch. The babies were kick- 
ing their heels on the wet sand, and dan- 
cing with delight as the waves rushed 
up and covered their fat, chubby legs. 

“Please, Grandmother,” insisted 
Dorothy. 

Grandmother rubbed her eyes as 
though she had been asleep. “What 
is it, dears?” she asked. 

“Our fairy godmother — ” said Jack 
— “didn’t we have one? Toma 
says — ” 

“Toma talks too much,” said Grand- 
mother severely. “If he knows that 
you have a fairy godmother, he knows 
more about it than I do.” 


The Fairy Godmother 3 

This was not at all the answer the 
children expected, and their faces 
threatened to become a mile long, so 
Grandmother laughed, and said, “Tut, 
tut; it’s nothing to be sad about. If 
the Little Green Lady was not a fairy, 
she certainly was something much more 
than a common mortal, and a god- 
mother that even Bonadventure chil- 
dren might be proud of. I have been 
waiting fourteen years to tell you about 
it.” 

“I know,” said Jack, hastily, “the 
Little Green Lady made you promise 
not to tell us any sooner.” 

“And how do you know that?” 
asked Grandmother, rather sharply. 

“Old Lista — ” commenced Dorothy. 

“Hum,” said Grandmother, “so you 
have been gossiping with old Lista, 
too, have you. Well, well, I can’t say 


4 The Golden Palace 

as I blame you for being curious, so sit 
down, and I will begin at the beginning. 

“It was fourteen years ago this 
month that the big storm came; the 
first and last that Bonadventure has 
ever seen. For days the wind roared 
and howled along the shore, and the 
waves dashed upon the rocks as big as 
mountains.” 

“Were any of the fishermen 
drowned?” asked Jack. 

“No,” said Grandmother, “the day 
befofe the storm began, a great gray 
fog came up out of the sea, and the 
fishermen said they heard voices talking 
in the mist, telling them not to venture 
out with the boats.” 

“Were they sea-people, Grand- 
mother?” asked Dorothy. “We have 
often heard them when the fog comes 
up, haven't we, Jack?” 


The Fairy Godmother 5 

Jack nodded his head, and Grand- 
mother, who seemed just a bit alarmed 
at Dorothy’s statement, hurried on: 

“Even after the storm went down, 
the waves still piled up in great swells, 
and all sorts of wreckage drifted in. 
Large trees were washed up on the 
shore; some of them were full of deli- 
cious fruit and strange birds — from 
fairyland, perhaps. There were all 
sorts of queer fishes in the waves, many 
of them with scales of gold and silver. 
Old Lista said she saw some of the 
sea-people, and perhaps she did. The 
fishermen say that when she was 
younger she lived for years in the 
Kingdom of the Hundred Islands, 
and that the sea-folk often talk to 
her.” 

“They do to us, too,” began Dorothy. 

“Where does our part come in?” 


6 The Golden Palace 


asked Jack, who was impatient for the 
story to go on. 

“That is just what I was coming to,” 
answered Grandmother. “All of the 
people of the village were down at the 
beach, watching the water, and picking 
up curious shells; when, suddenly, old 
Lista pointed out to the ocean, and 
commenced talking to herself in a lan- 
guage none of us could understand. 
Then she cried "Babies, babies!’ and 
ran down to the edge of the water, 
where Grandfather and I were stand- 
ing. She pointed to a great curving 
wave that was coming right toward us. 
It curled over, throwing a shower of 
colored spray high in the air, and then, 
the wave was gone, and, just before us 
on the sandy beach, stood two babies, 
just big enough to walk, their little wet 
bodies shining in the sun. 


The Fairy Godmother 7 

“Lista said she saw a great dolphin 
that the babies rode in on. No one 
else saw the fish, but the babies were 
very real, and they were — ” 

“Us,” finished Dorothy. “Oh, is 
that a really true story ? ” and the girl’s 
face beamed with excitement. 

“Yes,” answered Grandmother, 
“You and Jack walked right up to 
Grandfather and me, and have been 
our boy and girl ever since.” 

“But the Little Green Lady?” .said 
Jack, “you haven’t told us about her 
yet.” 

“Jack, you rascal,” said Grand- 
mother, “I believe you know the story 
as well as I do.” 

Jack looked a little sheepish, and 
said something about voices in the fog, 
and Grandmother smiled and went on 
with the story. 


8 The Golden Palace 


“The christening? It was out in 
the fairy grove, where the big trees are. 
I guess everybody in Bonadventure 
must have been there. Grandfather 
and I were holding you two precious 
babes in our arms, when, there right 
beside us, stood a little old lady, in a 
beautiful sea-green dress, who seemed 
a very grand person indeed. Her hair 
made you think of seaweed; her face 
was full of little wrinkles, and she had, 
too, a funny little wrinkly smile. Every 
child in Bonadventure loved her from 
the first moment. In spite of the 
wrinkles, there was an air of breeziness 
about her that made her seem young 
and really beautiful. 

“‘May I be sponsor for these 
babies she said. 

“At this, all the people said, ‘Ah!’ 
and Lista made a low bow before her, 



The Christening 





















































*« 
















The Fairy Godmother 9 

as they do at the queen’s reception, 
and Toma said, ‘Their fairy god- 
mother,’ — and that is how it hap- 
pened.” 

“Do you suppose she will ever come 
to see us again ? ” asked Dorothy. 

“Perhaps,” said Grandmother, mys- 
teriously, “if you are good children.” 

As may be imagined, studies went 
hard for the next few weeks. Poor 
Jaron, who taught school under the 
trees in the big grove, often wondered 
what made Jack and Dorothy, who 
were usually his best pupils, spend so 
much time in day-dreams, when they 
ought to have been at work on their 
lessons. In the afternoon, at the old 
grist-mill, Grandfather had quite as 
trying a time, for every five minutes 
Jack would leave his place by the big 
grinding stones to ask new questions 


io The Golden Palace 


about the mysterious Little Green 
Lady. 

Grandmother fared the worst of all. 
Dorothy could ask as many questions 
in a minute as Jack could in an hour, 
and bakings and ironings were sadly 
broken into by requests for Grand- 
mother to please tell it over “just one 
more time. ,, 

However, exciting as it all was, a 
story like Grandmother’s was not 
nearly so unusual in Bonadventure as 
it would be with us, for Bonadventure 
was not an every-day, bread-and-butter 
country, by any means; and while it 
was not so far away but that, once in 
a great while, ships from our own land 
would come to anchor in its pleasant 
harbor, yet at the same time, wonderful 
as it may seem, Bonadventure was only 
a few days’ journey from the most 


The Fairy Godmother 11 

delightful places that ever story books 
have told about. Countries where 
golden castles are as common as gro- 
cery stores are with us, where knights 
still wear shining armor, and magicians 
scare small boys, where magic doors 
open when you say “ Efoxtabilastaugh,” 
or rub the doorstep with the proper 
talisman, and elves and gnomes are as 
thick as Jersey mosquitoes are in 
August. So Jack and Dorothy felt 
that with such a godmother almost any 
adventure might come to them, and 
come one did — sooner than they ex- 
pected. 


CHAPTER II 

THE MAGIC RAFT 

JT was low tide, and the children 
were knee-deep in the water gather- 
ing clams. Jack was busy with his 
sand-sieve, when he heard old Lista 
calling him from the shore. 

“Look at that,” she called, pointing 
out over the water to where a strange- 
looking object was being tossed by the 
waves. 

“It’s no boat,” said a fisherman, 
“that’s sure.” 

“It’s a raft,” said another. 

“There is somebody in her,” said 
Toma, the goatherd. 


12 


The Magic Raft 13 

“No, there isn't either,” said the first 
fisherman. “It is the sail you see.” 

“It is a foreign craft,” said old Lista. 
“That sail was never made in these 
parts.” 

By that time the raft was almost in, 
and the people ran out of the way just 
as a big wave cast it on the sand in 
their midst. 

It was a queer-looking craft — about 
thirty feet square, made of small logs, 
which were fastened together with 
wooden pins and tied with a rope of 
marsh grass of a color nearer red than 
green. There was a mast, and fas- 
tened to it was a sail of heavy silk, 
striped red, yellow, and white, and the 
whole thing, logs, mast, sail, grass 
ropes and all, smelled of spices — like 
cinnamon, nutmegs, and cloves. Doro- 
thy said it made her think of mince pies. 


14 The Golden Palace 

The fishermen stayed there for hours 
talking about it — wondering where it 
came from — and who and where the 
people were that made it. 

“If they were real people,” said old 
Lista, shaking her head in a mysterious 
way. 

“ It’s a goblin’s raft,” said a fishwife, 
“and like as not came from the Little 
Green Lady herself,” and she looked 
hard at the children. 

“I think she is horrid,” whispered 
Dorothy to Jack. “Let’s go away.” 

By the next morning the raft had 
become something of an old story. 
The fishermen seemed to have grown 
a little afraid of it — they did not quite 
like so much mystery. To the children, 
however, it was altogether a delight, 
and after they had played about it for 
a half-hour or so, Jack said, “Dorothy, 


The Magic Raft 15 

do you know, I would like very much 
to take a ride on this raft.” 

“Is that so,” said Dorothy, “so 
would I. I feel as though I could hear 
some one say, ‘You’d better take a ride. 
It would be lots of fun.’” 

“That’s funny,” said Jack. “I 
heard it too.” 

“All right; let’s do it,” said Dorothy. 

But they could not push the raft into 
the water. Dorothy was almost ready 
to cry from disappointment, when 
Sand-dab, the half-witted fellow who 
helped the men dry fish on the beach, 
came along. 

“Hello, young ones; what’s the mat- 
ter?” he called. 

“Oh, please, Mr. Sand-dab,” said 
Dorothy, “won’t you help us get the 
raft into the water ? We want to take 
a little ride.” 


1 6 The Golden Palace 


Sand-dab would do anything for 
Dorothy, but it was a pretty big job 
even for him. Finally, however, after 
pushing and pulling for a long time, 
he got it to the water’s edge, which, as 
the tide was high, was only a few feet 
away. 

When the first wave touched the raft, 
something very queer happened. It 
started pushing itself right out into the 
water, and Jack and Dorothy had just 
time to jump aboard before it left the 
shore. 

“Here, stop!” cried Sand-dab to the 
raft. But the raft would not stop. It 
went on like a thing alive. 

Sand-dab’s cries attracted the other 
fishermen who were near, and soon the 
beach was full of people, swinging their 
arms, and calling to the raft to come 
back. 


The Magic Raft 17 

The old miller heard the noise and 
came running down the path from the 
mill, and the last thing that Jack and 
Dorothy heard was their Grandfather 
calling: 

“Your fairy godmother! She’ll take 
care of you!” and the rest was lost in 
the sound of the waves. 


CHAPTER III 


CRINKLE AND CRANKLE 

first Dorothy was very much 
frightened, and, to tell the truth, 
Jack was, too, but as the raft went 
steadily along without mishap they felt 
better, and when they heard their 
Grandfather’s cheery voice, they had 
quite recovered their usual spirits. 

Both of the children had often ac- 
companied the fishermen on their trips, 
and were quite as much at home on 
the water as on land. 

Like most Bonad venture boys, Jack 
usually carried fishing-line in his 
pocket, so he untangled his string and 
tried fishing for a while. But the line 


Crinkle and Crankle 


1 9 


was light, the hook was small, and sea- 
weed did not make good bait. Finally 
a big tuna came swimming by, gobbled 
up the bait and hook, snapped off a 
yard or so of line as well, and calmly 
resumed his journey. 

Then Dorothy lay down on her back, 
with Jack’s coat under her head for a 
pillow, and watched the big white 
clouds drift by. The motion of the 
raft was as easy as a cradle, and soon 
the girl was fast asleep. 

On and on they went. It suddenly 
occurred to Jack that they were quite 
out of sight of land, that he had no 
idea where they were going, and that 
he was hungry. 

He seated himself in the front of the 
raft and whistled to keep up courage, 
but he felt pretty blue, and after he had 
watched the waves for a long time, 


20 The Golden Palace 


something squeezed itself out of his 
eyes and ran down his nose. 

“Well,” said Jack, much disgusted, 
“this will never do,” and he began to 
whistle again, and that woke Dorothy. 

“Is dinner ready, Jack?” she said, 
and just as Jack said “No,” right out 
of the water in front of the raft popped 
up what Jack, at first, thought were 
two footballs, but which he saw an 
instant later were the heads of two 
funny little men or boys. They swam 
about like seals, and then sprang out 
of the water quite as easily as salmon 
would have done it, and demurely 
seated themselves at two corners of the 
raft. These sea-urchins were queer- 
looking fellows, between three and four 
feet tall, and dressed in a green livery 
of a texture something like sharks’ skin. 
Their faces had a decided olive tinge, 


Crinkle and Crankle 2 1 


and their eyes sparkled like little black 
diamonds. 

In features, they resembled each 
other very much, but there was this 
difference, while one of them was con- 
tinuously smiling — or grinning rather 
— from ear to ear, the other looked as 
sour as a lemon. 

“Why, why!” commenced Jack, too 
bewildered to speak an intelligent sen- 
tence. 

“I should think you would say, ‘why, 
why! 5 ” retorted the surly one. “That’s 
what comes of sending a second-hand, 
last-year’s-pattern magic raft to do 
anything.” 

Here the grinning one interrupted, 
“Stop your noise, growler; where are 
your manners?” Then he turned to 
the children. “We are pages to Queen 
Nepta. The sweet-looking young man 


22 The Golden Palace 

over there is Crankle. I am Crinkle. 
You, I suppose, are her Majesty’s god- 
children, Jack and Dorothy.” 

“We are Jack and Dorothy,” said 
the boy, but I thought the Little Green 
Lady was our godmother.” 

“She calls herself that, sometimes,” 
said Crinkle, “but she is really Queen 
Nepta, the ruler of the Hundred Is- 
lands.” 

“And what the old woman wants to 
take up with a couple of common mor- 
tals like you two,” interrupted Crankle, 
“is more than I — ” 

The sentence was never finished, for, 
just at that moment, Crinkle forcibly 
pushed his foot against his companion’s 
back, and Crankle tumbled off into the 
sea. He was back on the raft again, 
however, quicker than it takes to tell it, 
and in another instant the two little 


Crinkle and Crankle 23 

pages were scuffling like a couple of 
schoolboys. Crinkle was evidently the 
stronger, and soon had Crankle begging 
for mercy. 

“Promise never to call her Majesty 
‘the Old Woman’ again.” 

“I promise,” said Crankle, wrath- 
fully. 

“And promise to be decent to Jack 
and Dorothy.” 

“All right, smarty; let me up.” 

Crinkle grinned. “You see,” he 
said to the children, “we never really 
quarrel. We have our little differences, 
but we always agree in the end; don’t 
we, Crankle ? ” 

Crankle glared. “You think you 
are smart, don’t you ? ” 

While this was going on, Jack and 
Dorothy were busy pinching themselves 
to see if they were not dreaming after all. 


24 The Golden Palace 

“Our godmother queen of the Hun- 
dred Islands,” gasped Dorothy. 

“I believe that is what old Lista was 
talking about,” said Jack. 

“Isn’t it jolly?” said Dorothy. 
“Pinch me again, Jack, I want to be 
sure.” 

But they were not dreaming, and 
Crinkle was saying, “Don’t you want 
some dinner?” 

Dorothy, during the excitement the 
coming of the visitors had made, had 
forgotten just how hungry she had 
been a short time before, but she re- 
membered now, and both she and 
Jack watched with much interest the 
polite little page as he opened a hidden 
lid in one of the logs of the raft, and 
produced a little jug of water, and 
some very good, but rather queer, 
things to eat. 


Crinkle and Crankle 25 

While the children were eating, Crin- 
kle went on talking. 

“You two probably think that your 
coming on the raft was all an accident. 
Well, it wasn’t. Her Majesty arranged 
every bit of it.” 

“The Little Green Lady?” asked 
Dorothy. 

“Exactly,” said Crinkle, “but there 
is something else I must tell you about 
first. In Neverland there is a boy king 
who is the most lonesome person in the 
world.” 

“A king lonesome?” said Jack, 
“that sounds queer to me.” 

“The most lonesome person in the 
world,” repeated Crinkle, “and this is 
how it happened. King Tib was 
crowned six months ago. All his father’s 
counselors were cross old bachelors, 
who disliked children so much that they 


26 The Golden Palace 


induced the old king to make a law 
that all the children in the entire king- 
dom should be shut up in the Castle 
Terribel, a great stone prison on the 
top of a high mountain, that lies just 
back of the king’s city of Sareb. 

“As soon as a child is nine months 
old, one of the Terribel baby-catchers 
takes it up to the castle, and there it 
must stay until it is eighteen; so in all 
the land there is not a single boy or 
girl to be seen.” 

“But I thought you said the King 
was a boy,” objected Jack. 

“I am coming to that,” said Crinkle. 
“Like all the other children, King Tib 
was brought up in Terribel, but when 
his father died, the counselors, as much 
as they disliked it, had to send for him 
to be their king. So there he is, all 
alone in the palace, the only boy in 


Crinkle and Crankle 27 

the whole kingdom — no wonder he is 
lonesome.” 

“Poor boy,” said Dorothy. “I wish 
we could go over and cheer him up.” 

“That is just what you are going to 
do,” said Crinkle, with his usual grin. 
King Tib is a sort of a cousin of your 
godmother’s, and she has arranged for 
you to visit him. You are on your way 
there now.” 

“Won’t those old fellows — what did 
you call them — counselors — send us 
home again?” asked Jack. 

“No,” answered Crinkle; “children 
of royalty, on a visit, do not come under 
this law.” 

“But we aren’t children of royalty,” 
protested Dorothy. We are “the chil- 
dren of the old miller of Bonadventure.” 

“You are the godchildren of Queen 
Nepta, ruler of the Hundred Islands. 


28 The Golden Palace 


I guess that makes you royalty, all 
right,” said Crinkle. 

“ Funny kind of royalty,” sniffed 
Crankle, the surly one. But he got no 
farther, for a look from Crinkle was 
enough to stop him. 

Since the arrival of the pages, the 
speed of the raft had been increasing 
steadily, and it was now slipping over 
the waves in fine style. Soon they be- 
gan to sight the distant shores of 
Neverland. There was a fringe of 
trees along the beach, and behind that 
a large city, in the center of which 
could be seen a magnificent palace, 
whose spires glittered in the sun. But 
what stood out most prominently in 
the picture was a great rocky moun- 
tain that lay back of the town and 
on whose top was a gloomy-looking 
fortress. 


Crinkle and Crankle 29 

“What is that ?” asked Jack, pointing 
to the huge pile of rock. 

“The saddest sight in the whole 
country of Neverland,” said Crinkle. 
“It is the Castle Terribel.” 


CHAPTER IV 

THE KING’S SIGNET RING 

When the raft reached the land- 
ing, the visitors found crowds 
of people waiting their arrival. Sol- 
diers in crimson uniforms, with cross- 
bows on their shoulders, were drawn 
up along one side of the street, and 
gaily dressed pages lined the other. 
Tradesmen and laborers greeted the 
children with cheers, and the market 
women smiled and threw flowers at 
them. 

“The bonnie children,” cried one old 
dame. “It does my eyes good to see 
them.” 

“They make me think of my own 

30 


King’s Signet Ring 3 1 

boy and girl, up there on that horrid 
pile of rock,” said another, as she shook 
her fist at the frowning mountain. 

A very gorgeously dressed man, with 
a bald head, and a face as sour as ever 
Crankle’s was, evidently overheard the 
remark, for he glowered at the woman 
furiously. 

“Who is that man?” whispered 
Dorothy. “I don’t like him a bit.” 

“I don’t either,” Crinkle whispered 
back. “That is the wicked Duke 
Toughenuff. He is one of the coun- 
selors who banished the children.” 

“I should think the mothers and 
fathers would hate him.” 

“They do,” said Crinkle, “but they 
are afraid of him, too.” 

By this time the duke was right in 
front of them, bowing low, and trying 
his best to look pleasant; but he did 


32 The Golden Palace 

not seem to be wholly successful. He 
did not enjoy children. 

“Hum, hum. I suppose you — ah 
— ah — young personages — are — 
ahem — the godchildren of her illus- 
trious majesty, Queen Nepta. If it 
were not for her majesty’s inordinate 
liking for — ah — young personages — 
she would be rather a charming woman. 
Well,” he went on, in a bored, hurried 
tone, “I suppose I must get this over 
with. Welcome, welcome to Never- 
land, and now, for goodness’ sake, hurry 
along, and don’t you dare to talk to 
me, for I don’t think I could stand it.” 

With a very red face, he backed into 
a sedan-chair, and was carried away 
by four stout fellows, who had faces 
almost as highly colored as their mas- 
ter’s. 

King Tib met the procession at the 


King’s Signet Ring 33 

door of the golden palace, and at the 
sight of the children utterly forgot his 
dignity, for he slapped Jack on the 
shoulder, and said, “Can you spin 
tops ?” 

“Yes,” said Jack, with a laugh, “and 
so can Dorothy, and play ball, too.” 

“Hurrah!” said the king. “Fm 
pitch.” 

“Fm catch,” said Jack. 

“Fll take the bat,” said Dorothy, 
“and Crinkle and Crankle can go on 
bases.” 

“All right, come on,” said King Tib, 
and regardless of the gilded halls, they 
raced through the palace, thoroughly 
scandalizing the counselors and cour- 
tiers, who had prepared an elaborate 
ceremony, in which they, and not the 
children, were to play the principal 
parts. 


34 The Golden Palace 

There was an open court in the king’s 
apartments that made a fine ball- 
ground, and the children were in the 
midst of an exciting game of one-old- 
cat, when they were interrupted by 
King Tib’s private secretary. 

“I am sorry to interrupt your 
Majesty,” he began. 

The king was now at the bat and 
much excited over the game. “Just 
a minute, Noddy, and I’m with you.” 

Jack was pitching, and sent a beau- 
tiful ball right over the plate. Crack! 
went the king’s bat, and away flew the 
ball, up and up, out and out, until 
there was another crack and they saw 
the ball disappear through a window. 

“Whew!” said the king. “There’ll 
be trouble, now. That’s the window 
of the council chamber. Any one in 
there, Noddy ? ” 


King’s Signet Ring 35 

The secretary was much perturbed. 
“Oh, your Majesty, all the council are 
there, talking over your message about 
bringing the children back.” 

“Gracious!” said the king in alarm. 
“I have done it, sure enough.” 

“I have just come from the council,” 
continued Noddy, “and they want you 
to come at once.” 

“Jack,” said the king, “what shall 
I do ? I want those children brought 
back, and the counselors say it must 
not be done. They say that children 
are not allowed in any modern city; 
that it wouldn’t be at all proper to 
have them back. Now, what do you 
and Dorothy say about it ? ” 

“I think the counselors are silly old 
geese,” cried Dorothy. 

“Aren’t you the king?” asked 
Jack. 


36 The Golden Palace 

“Yes,” said King Tib. 

“Don’t you make the laws?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, if you make a law, saying 
the children must be brought back, 
wouldn’t that settle it ? ” 

“Y-e-s, I suppose so.” 

“Then, your Majesty, my advice is 
that you do it.” 

“What is yours, Dorothy?” 

“The same as Jack’s,” said the girl, 
promptly. 

“And yours, Crinkle?” 

“Same.” 

“Crankle ?” 

“Well, well,” said the sulky one. 
“I believe I’d have to think it 
over.” 

At this speech, Jack and Dorothy 
turned their backs on the sour-faced 
young man, and Crinkle whispered, 


King’s Signet Ring 37 

“ Shall I sit on him, Jack?” but Jack 
shook his head. 

“Three of you say to have the babies 
brought back; one doesn’t know. Nod- 
dy, old fellow, what do you thing about 
it?” 

“Oh, your Majesty, the Duke 
Toughenuff says I must never presume 
to advise your Majesty.” 

“Humph,” said the king. “Doro- 
thy was quite right. The duke is an 
old goose. I would much rather have 
your advice than his.” 

“Your Majesty,” began Noddy, and 
to the children’s surprise, great tears 
came into his eyes, “your Majesty, I 
have a boy in the Castle Terribel, whom 
I have not seen in fourteen years; my 
wife is old and ill. If my boy could 
come back, I believe it would make her 
well again, and I — oh, your Majesty 


38 The Golden Palace 

— I’d give ten years of my life to see 
my boy, to-day/’ 

There were tears in Dorothy’s eyes 
by this time, and the king rubbed his 
nose fiercely. There was a queer catch 
in his voice when he spoke. “Jack, 
that settles it. Noddy, get some of the 
royal parchment, and we’ll fix up a 
decree. Get some sealing-wax, too, so 
I can put my signet to it.” 

As Noddy was passing through the 
door, the king called, “Oh, yes, and 
you may send in a footman with some 
candy. We can eat it while we are 
waiting.” 

“I suppose I am curious,” said 
Dorothy, “but just what is a signet?” 

The king laughed. “That’s my big 
ring. It’s too big for me and so I keep 
it locked up. Come into the library 
and I’ll get it for you.” 


King’s Signet Ring 39 

The children followed the king into 
an adjoining room and crowded about 
him as he opened a cabinet in the corner 
of the room. 

“It’s not so much, after all,” said 
King Tib, as he handed the signet to 
Dorothy. It was a heavy gold ring, 
big enough for Dorothy to slip three 
fingers into, and set with a great green 
stone, on which was carved the royal 
crest of Neverland. 

“ Isn’t it queer,” said the girl, “to 
be handling a real king’s signet ring 
like they tell about in the histories, 
and, beside that, to be talking to a real 
king ? Do you know,” she said, turn- 
ing to the young monarch, “I thought 
I was going to be afraid of you, but 
you are every bit as nice as if you were 
just a common boy.” 

They all laughed at this and Crankle 


40 The Golden Palace 

said, suddenly, “ Let’s play button- 
button.” 

“ What’s that?” asked King Tib. 

Crankle explained, and was so po- 
lite about it that the children were 
amazed. 

“I’d like to try it,” said the king. 
“I’ll send for a button.” 

“Oh, don’t do that,” objected Cran- 
kle. “It will take too long. Use the 
signet ring. That will be just the 
thing.” 

King Tib hesitated a moment. The 
signet ring was the most valuable thing 
in the entire kingdom, but he did not 
want to seem inhospitable, so he said, 
“All right, only we must be very careful 
not to hurt it.” 

They had been playing about five 
minutes when they were interrupted by 
the entrance of an imposing-looking 


King’s Signet Ring 41 

footman in the king’s livery, bearing a 
silver salver. On the server was a box 
in an enticing wrapper marked “ Choice 
Sugar Taffy.” The man put the pack- 
age on a table at the further end of the 
room and retired; but before the chil- 
dren could get over to it, a fat, shaggy 
little dog rushed through the door, 
sniffed the air, sprang upon the table, 
and, breaking the box open at a single 
snap, seized one of the pieces of candy 
in his teeth. 

The children made a rush at the dog, 
which tried to bark but only succeeded 
in making funny little noises with his 
teeth together, and went round and 
round on the table like a top. 

“ Maybe he’s mad,” said Dorothy. 

“No, he isn’t,” said the king. “I 
am the one that is mad. That’s Duke 
Toughenuff’s dog, Stuffy.” 


42 The Golden Palace 

“But there’s something the matter 
with him. He can’t open his mouth,” 
said Jack. 

“It’s stuck with the candy,” said 
Crinkle. 

“Sure enough it is,” said the king, 
and before he could finish his sentence 
the gorgeous footman came dashing 
through the door, his dignity thrown to 
the winds. 

“Oh, your Majesty!” he gasped. 
“The candy!” 

“Well?” said the king. 

“It’s a mistake!” cried the footman. 
That wretched girl gave me everstick 
glue instead of candy.” 

“Everstick?” repeated the king; and 
then he laughed until his sides shook. 

“What is it?” asked Jack. 

“Why, don’t you see? The poor 
dog’s jaws are glued together. It will 


King’s Signet Ring 43 

take hours for him to get them apart. 
I have seen ever stick used before. 
Here,” went on the king, handing the 
fat little poodle to the footman, “take 
this handsome animal to the duke with 
my compliments.” 

By this time Noddy, the private sec- 
retary, had returned. “Here, your 
Majesty, is the decree, all ready for 
you to sign and seal, and it will be a 
joyful day for Neverland.” 

“Very well,” said King Tib. “We’ll 
fix those crusty old counselors in just 
about a minute. Jack, hand me that 
signet ring, will you please ? ” 

“I haven’t the ring,” said Jack. 

“Nor I,” said Dorothy. 

“Nor I,” echoed Crinkle. 

“I think your friend Crankle must 
have it,” said the king. “Crankle, 
Crankle, where are you ? ” Crankle 


44 The Golden Palace 

was not there. They looked through 
the rooms, the court and the hall, but 
no Crankle. He was gone and, what 
was worse, the signet ring was gone, 
too. 


CHAPTER V 

THE ESCAPE FROM THE PALACE 

“ r J^HAT is exactly what has hap- 
pened, said Crinkle, solemnly. 
“That rascal, Crankle, has stolen the 
signet ring, and run off with it.” 

“Do you really think so ?” asked the 
king in amazement. 

“Yes I do,” said Crinkle, stoutly. 
What a ninny I have been not see it 
before. Did you know, your Majesty, 
that when your messenger brought your 
letter to Queen Nepta, he also brought 
a letter to Crankle from the Duke of 
Toughenuff ? ” 

“Why, no,” said the king, “are you 
sure ? ” 


45 


46 The Golden Palace 

“Yes, I am,” insisted Crinkle, “and 
Crankle was so swelled up over it, he 
looked like a toad. Queen Nepta 
wasn’t going to let him come at 
first, only he said the duke had some 
very important business for him to 
attend to — so she finally let him 
come.” 

“I wonder if this was the business,” 
said the king, a red spot showing in 
either cheek. 

“Your Majesty,” reminded the sec- 
retary, “the council is waiting for you.” 

“Jack, tell me what to do,” said the 
king, anxiously. 

“Oh, put your name to the decree, 
and let the seal go,” said Jack. “Per- 
haps that would make it a law any- 
way.” 

“Good enough!” said the king. “I’ll 
try it.” 


Escape from Palace 47 

“ Noddy, give me a quill and some 
ink,” and the boy scrawled “Tib, 
Rex,” at the bottom of the new 
decree. 

The children entered the council 
room just in time to hear the last of 
Duke Toughenuff’s speech. 

“And if anything more was 
needed — ” he was saying — “we have 
seen it to-day. The presence of the 
few children that entered the kingdom 
not three hours ago so affected the 
manners of the king that he, as well as 
they, ran like wild things through the 
sacred precincts of this palace; called 
aloud to each other in a rude and bois- 
terous manner; and finally hurled a 
missile — a dangerous missile — 
through the window yonder, into this, 
the very presence of our august coun- 
cil.” 


48 The Golden Palace 

Crinkle smiled gleefully. “I thought 
that ball business would work the old 
fellow up.” 

“Look at King Tib,” said Dorothy 
in admiration. “Isn’t he fine?” For 
Tib was taking his place at the end of 
the hall with as much dignity as the 
gravest bald-head present. 

“My counselors,” he began gravely, 
“for months I have been considering 
the question of the absent children of 
Neverland, and the decree I am about 
to read is my decision.” As he read, 
the soldiers, servants, and guards that 
were in the hall showed much delight, 
but the king’s ministers looked glum- 
mer and glummer. 

When King Tib finished, the Duke 
Toughenuff arose and said grandly, 
“May I see the decree?” 

As the king handed it to the duke 


Escape from Palace 49 

the children fairly held their breath 
with suspense. 

“Is this intended to be the law?” 
asked the duke, sternly. 

“It is,” said King Tib. 

“Then — ” and the duke’s voice rose 
to a terrible pitch, “where is the King’s 
Seal?” 

“Your Grace,” began the king. 

The duke interrupted him. “We 
know, we know why the seal is missing. 
The king’s signet is gone. It was 
played with as a child’s toy, by the 
King of Neverland and these children 
from no one knows where.” 

“I believe the ring was stolen,” said 
the king, with flaming cheeks, “and 
that the Duke Toughenuff knows where 
it is.” 

King Tib had plenty of courage but 
he was no match for the duke, who had 


50 The Golden Palace 

fought battles of words for many years 
in the palace council chamber. 

“The king says he believes I know 
where the royal signet is,” thundered 
the duke. “I do not, but any of us, 
fellow-counselors, may suspect these 
children who came on a magic raft 
from no one knows where. What was 
there to prevent them from stealing the 
ring, which is worth untold gold ? We 
must act promptly. These children 
must be put into prison.” 

Here the king forgot his dignity 
again. “Cut and run, Jack, and you, 
too, Dorothy. That duke is bad enough 
for—” 

Jack did not wait to hear more, but 
caught Dorothy by the hand, and run 
they did. 

The wicked duke called upon the 
guards to stop them, but the soldiers 


Escape from Palace 5 1 

hated the duke and were glad enough to 
help the children. Down the hall raced 
Jack and Dorothy, and after them ran 
the guards, making a great uproar but 
really giving them every possible chance 
to escape. At the end of the wild pro- 
cession came the counselors, puffing 
and blowing at every step. 

“Here, go through this door and 
down the stairs,” suggested a friendly 
page who was greatly enjoying the 
excitement. 

Down the stairs darted the children, 
where they found themselves in the 
great palace kitchen. A red-faced cook, 
in cap and apron, was roasting birds 
before the fireplace. 

“Save us!” cried Dorothy. 

“The duke wants to put us in 
prison!” gasped Jack. “The soldiers 
are after us.” 


52 The Golden Palace 

“The wretches!” exclaimed a fat 
market-woman who was standing in 
the doorway, with an armful of carrots. 

“The poor little dears,” said a thin 
one, who was holding a basket of eggs. 

“Where can we hide?” said Jack. 

“You come with me,” said the fat 
market-woman, dropping her vegeta- 
bles to the floor. 

Not to be outdone, the thin dame 
dropped her basket of eggs, and with- 
out stopping to consider the result, ran 
after her fat companion and the chil- 
dren. Outside the door stood two 
peaceful-looking donkeys with large 
panniers at their sides. 

“Quick! In here,” said the fat 
market-woman, and she picked up 
Dorothy and pushed her down in the 
pannier, scattering carrot-tops over her. 
At the same time the thin one uncere- 


Escape from Palace 53 

moniously dumped Jack into the pan- 
nier of her donkey and covered him 
generously with strong-smelling onions. 
A moment later the guards poured 
down the stairs and through the kitchen, 
making much noise, but doing no real 
searching. In the midst of the excite- 
ment our two market-women quietly 
drove their donkeys along, and soon 
passed safely out through the palace 
gates. 


CHAPTER VI 
aunt tilly’s garden 

'P'HE little farm of the market- 
woman lay a quarter of a day’s 
journey from Sareb, the king’s city, 
and although the donkeys were easy of 
gait, the children were glad enough 
when they reached their journey’s end. 
Poor Dorothy could scarcely stand 
when she was lifted from her bed of 
carrots; and Jack’s face, hands, and 
hair were fairly green from rubbing 
against the onion tops; but these small 
discomforts were soon forgotten in their 
thankfulness at having escaped from 
the clutches of the wicked duke. The 
good market-women showed them every 

54 



The Rescue 


Wi 







. 

- • 












* 



























































' 

1 































Aunt Tilly’s Garden 55 

kindness, and insisted that the children 
must make their home with them until 
all danger had passed. 

The fat market-woman, whom the 
children learned to call Aunt Tilly, was 
the wife of a soldier who had belonged 
to the army of King Tib’s father. At 
the death of the king many of the sol- 
diers had joined the guard of the coun- 
selors. But Boritz, for that was Aunt 
Tilly’s husband’s name, disliked Duke 
Toughenuff so much, that he left the 
army and chose the more humble 
calling of a wood-cutter. 

The thin market-woman was Aunt 
Trot, and she was the wood-cutter’s 
sister. 

“Brother Boritz is a rough old fel- 
low,” explained Aunt Trot, “but he 
hates the duke and will be glad enough 
to do what he can to help you.” 


56 The Golden Palace 

The two old dames had a comfort- 
able little home; there was a tiny cot- 
tage thatched with straw, and a garden 
full of finely growing vegetables, en- 
closed by a thick hedge. 

By this time it was almost dark. 
The children were given a good supper 
and put to bed, and that was the last 
they knew until a pounding on the door 
wakened them, and they heard Aunt 
Tilly saying it was breakfast time. 

Although the sun was not yet above 
the eastern hills, the panniers of the 
two donkeys were full to overflowing, 
and the market-women ready for their 
daily journey. 

“You will find your breakfast on the 
kitchen table. Have a good time while 
we are gone,” called Aunt Tilly. 

“We shall be back by noon,” said 
Aunt Trot. 


Aunt Tilly’s Garden 57 

The children found the garden dull 
without the lively old women, but 
there was work to be done, and Jack 
manfully hoed weeds while Dorothy 
washed the dishes; next, they picked 
lettuce and shelled peas for dinner; 
and then, feeling that they had earned 
a holiday, gathered flowers, played 
games under the trees, and watched 
the black line on the sun-dial, which 
would tell them when it was noon and 
time for Aunt Trot and Aunt Tilly to 
return. 

The shadow on the dial was slowly 
crawling to the mark, when, suddenly, 
they heard great shouting in the direc- 
tion of a river which flowed near the 
little farm. Full of curiosity, the chil- 
dren ran to an opening in the hedge. 
From there they could see the river- 
bank, and fishermen running frantically 


58 The Golden Palace 

to and fro. Some of them were point- 
ing and others throwing stones at an 
object in the water. 

“What is it?” called Jack to a 
passer-by, forgetting the danger of 
being seen. 

“A sea-serpent,” said the man, with- 
out turning his head. “There is a 
sea-serpent out there in the river and 
he will eat the fish. The fishermen are 
trying to kill it.” 

While the man was talking, the chil- 
dren were startled by a call from the 
river of, “Help! Help!” 

“That’s no sea-serpent!” cried Doro- 
thy. 

“It’s Crinkle!” exclaimed Jack, and 
regardless of consequences the two 
children dashed along the bank to the 
river’s edge. 

“Can’t you see that isn’t a sea-ser- 


Aunt Tilly’s Garden 59 

pent ?” called Jack to the crowd. “It’s 
a boy. He does look a bit queer, but 
he’s a boy just the same. Crinkle, 
Crinkle,” he shouted, “it’s Jack.” 

“Swim ashore,” called Dorothy. “I 
won’t let them hurt you.” 

Crinkle heard them and struck out 
for the shore, swimming like a mack- 
erel. As he pulled himself up on the 
bank all sorts of cries and ejaculations 
could be heard from the fishermen ; and 
then, to Jack and Dorothy’s great em- 
barrassment, they found themselves 
quite as much objects of interest as 
was Crinkle. 

“Why, they are children,” said one 
old fellow, staring at them with open 
mouth. 

“Did you escape from the castle?” 
asked another in an awe-stricken voice. 

“They’re the boy and girl who came 


6o The Golden Palace 


on the magic raft, yesterday,” called a 
third. 

“Yes — ” said a woman who was 
standing near, “and they went to the 
palace and stole the king’s signet ring; 
and Duke Toughenuff offers a bag of 
gold to any one who will bring them 
back.” 

“We didn’t steal the ring,” said Jack. 
“Ask the king; he knows we didn’t.” 

“It’s that wicked old duke,” said 
Dorothy. “The one who hates chil- 
dren so. He wants to put us in 
prison.” 

“The wicked old duke took my chil- 
dren,” said an old man with a long 
gray beard. “I wouldn’t help him for 
a dozen bags of gold.” 

“Well, I would,” cried a black- 
browed man. 

“Well,” you won’t this time,” said 


Aunt Tilly’s Garden 61 

the gray-bearded fisherman. “Mates,” 
he continued, turning to the crowd, 
“all those who have sons or daughters, 
brothers or sisters, in the Castle Ter- 
ribel, help me to protect these chil- 
dren.” 

At that, dozens of big, brawny men 
ranged themselves beside the children’s 
friend. “Now,” he called to the black- 
browed man, “touch them if you dare.” 

At that the crowd cheered, and some 
one called, “The duke’s troopers are 
coming.” 

Jack looked, and sure enough, in the 
distance could be seen soldiers on 
horseback. 

“Out of sight, quick,” called the old 
fisherman. “Where did you come 
from ? ” 

“Aunt Tilly’s garden,” answered 
Jack. 


62 The Golden Palace 


“Well, scoot back there, quick, and 
if any one tells on you, we’ll duck him 
in the river; won’t we, mates?” 

Jack and Dorothy, with Crinkle at 
their heels, ran as fast as their legs 
could carry them, and dodged through 
a hole in the hedge like scared rabbits. 

They almost ran into the arms of the 
two market-women, who had just re- 
turned by another road. As Jack told 
their story, Aunt Tilly’s face grew 
grave. 

“Why didn’t we warn you to keep 
inside of the hedge ? But how were we 
to suppose you would do such a crazy 
thing ?” 

“We must get them away quick,” 
said Aunt Trot, vigorously. “Some 
one will be sure to tell the soldiers 
before long. Here, you reckless chil- 
dren, into the panniers you go again, 


Aunt Tilly’s Garden 63 

and you, too, you young sea-sprite, 
Crinkley, or whatever your name is. 
I think I shall pack all three of you in 
onions this time, ,, but she did not, for 
carrots were cheaper and did just as 
well. 


CHAPTER VII 


IN THE FOREST 

N hour later, when Jack, Dorothy, 
and Crinkle were permitted to 
crawl out again, they found themselves 
surrounded by great trees whose over- 
hanging branches were so thick they 
shut out the rays of the sun. 

“Now, children, you stay here,” 
said Aunt Trot, sternly, “and don’t 
you dare to go away. Brother Boritz 
comes back to-day and perhaps he will 
know what to do. I am sure I don’t. 
Come on, sister Tilly.” 

“I know we ought to hurry, sister 
Trot,” said the fat market-woman, 
“but I declare, I believe I’m curious. 

64 


In the Forest 65 

I want to know how that young sea- 
sprite got out of the king’s palace, and 
if he knows what has been done with 
the ring.” 

“Will it take long?” asked Aunt 
Trot. 

“About a half a minute,” answered 
Crinkle, with his usual grin. “You 
see,” he commenced, “when Jack and 
Dorothy ran one way down the hall, I 
ran the other. They were so much 
bigger fish than I, that the guards 
didn’t notice me at all. I hid in a 
closet until dark, and then slipped 
through the hall to a window that over- 
looked the river. It was only thirty 
feet to the water and I dived. Water 
is just as much home to me as air, so 
I swam about a bit, looking for some- 
thing to eat, but all I found were some 
lily bulbs and they weren’t salty enough, 


66 The Golden Palace 


so I went ashore and took a supper 
away from a nice black dog I found; 
slept in a barn, and in the morning 
took another swim and had rocks 
thrown at me.” 

“ That’s a funny supper for a queen’s 
page to take,” said Dorothy. “I think 
you ought to go back and ask the dog’s 
pardon.” 

“Well, we’ve heard the story,” said 
Aunt Trot, “and if we don’t hurry 
home, the duke’s troopers will be fol- 
lowing us and that will make more 
trouble. Now, for goodness’ sake, chil- 
dren, try to keep out of mischief this 
afternoon. Brother Boritz will come 
and see you as soon as he gets home.” 

“Please have him bring something to 
eat,” said Crinkle, as the good dames 
started to go. 

“We will,” they called back, and 


In the Forest 67 

they followed the donkeys down the 
winding path, and were soon lost to 
sight among the trees. 

“My! I’m hungry,” said Crinkle, as 
he stretched himself upon the ground. 

“Here is a carrot,” laughed Jack, as 
he threw the sea-urchin a yellow root 
that had fallen from the pannier. 

“Let’s tell stories,” said Dorothy, 
“and forget our hunger till the wood- 
cutter comes.” 

“All right,” said Crinkle. “Did you 
ever hear the story of the Feast of the 
Fiddler Crabs?” 

“No,” said Jack. “Tell it.” 

But the story never was told, for just 
at that moment they heard some one 
crying loud enough to be heard a mile. 
It was a regular boo-hoo that sounded 
like nothing so much as a spanked 
small boy; and a small boy it seemed 


68 The Golden Palace 


to be, for running down the path came 
a little fellow about the size of Crinkle; 
his clothes were torn in shreds and he 
was mud from head to foot. 

“Poor little fellow !” said Dorothy. 
“What’s the matter, little boy?” 

The little boy took his hands from 
his eyes, and — it was — guess who — 
Crankle ! 

Dorothy’s sympathy seemed to sud- 
denly dry up. “You horrid boy!” she 
began. 

“Never mind, Dorothy,” said Jack. 
“Don’t jump on a fellow when he’s 
down. What’s the matter, Crankle ? 
You look as if you had slept with the 
pigs.” 

“It’s that miserable duke,” said 
Crankle. “ Boo-hoo-hoo. I’ll fix him.” 

“Why!” said Jack. “I thought he 
was a friend of yours.” 


In the Forest 69 

“Well, he isn’t any more,” said the 
sea-urchin, with a few more sobs and 
sniffs. 

“Go on and tell us about it,” said 
Jack. 

“Will you promise not to hurt 
me if I do ? ” said Crankle, drying his 
tears. 

“Yes, I guess so,” said Jack. 

“And not let Crinkle hurt me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, it was all the duke’s fault. 
He promised me a new sea-horse if I 
would get the signet ring for him.” 

“And you stole it!” said Crinkle 
fiercely. 

“No, I didn’t. I just took it. I 
don’t believe it belongs to the king, 
anyway. It belongs to the whole gov- 
ernment. The council is the govern- 
ment and they told me to get it.” 


70 The Golden Palace 

“All right,” said Crinkle. “Call it 
whatever you want to. Go on.” 

“I had it in my hands when that dog 
got stuck in the candy,” continued 
Crankle, “and I started through the 
court where we were playing ball, to 
take it to the council room. I was 
running and stumbled; when I fell the 
ring flew out of my hands. Just then 
a queer-looking man, with a red, 
pointed cap, darted by me; he picked 
up the ring and ran off with it.” 

“Who was he?” asked Jack. 

“The captain of the palace guards 
said he must have been one of the 
gnomes who works down in the palace 
cellars.” 

“What did the duke say?” asked 
Dorothy. 

At this question Crankle showed 
signs of tears again. “He beat me, 


In the Forest 


7 1 


and kicked me, and nearly killed me. 
Then he gave me to the guards to take 
up to the Castle Terribel. When we 
were on the ferry, going across the 
river, I jumped into the water and got 
away from them. After I had swum 
under water for about a mile, I went 
ashore. 

“ Pretty soon I met a black-looking 
man with great shaggy eyebrows, who 
called me a sea-serpent, and said he 
was going to take me back to the duke 
and get a bag of gold. I ran and a lot 
of men chased me. I slipped through 
briars where they couldn’t follow, and 
pretty soon got into the woods. The 
briars scratched me and I am most 
dead,” and Crankle began to cry again. 

If Crankle had been a pretty bad 
sea-urchin, he certainly had been pun- 
ished for it, and the children felt sorry 


J2 The Golden Palace 

for him. They brought water from a 
spring, gave him a drink, washed his 
bruises, and fixed his clothing. They 
were in the midst of stories again, when 
they saw a man coming up the path. 
It was Boritz, the wood-cutter. 

After the children had eaten the 
supper Boritz had brought to them, 
and he had listened to Crankle’s story, 
he said, “ Children, I believe I know 
where the ring is.” 

“Where? Where?” they asked ea- 
gerly. 

“Well,” said Boritz, “you know I 
used to be a soldier at the king’s palace. 
I know those gnomes very well. They 
are crazy after gold and precious stones. 
The king of the gnomes has more gold 
and jewels in his cave than there are in 
all the palaces of Neverland. That is 
where your ring has gone. Some gnome 


In the Forest 


73 

has stolen it and has taken it to Gera- 
dar, the gnome king.” 

“Where does he live ?” asked Jack. 

“In a great cave,” answered Boritz, 
“that runs for miles under ground. 
The opening is on the side of a hill, in 
the dairy country, about a half day’s 
journey from here.” 

“Will you show us where it is?” 
asked Dorothy. 

“Why, yes, I can,” said the woods- 
man, “if you want me to. But, what 
for?” 

“Because I am going to call on 
him and ask him to give me the 
ring.” 

“What’s the use ?” asked the woods- 
man. “He won’t do it.” 

“He certainly won’t, if he isn’t 
asked,” said Dorothy, “and I am going 
to give him a chance.” 


74 The Golden Palace 

“What kind of a fellow is he?” 
asked Crinkle. 

“I don’t think any one knows,” said 
the woodsman. “He doesn’t like visi- 
tors. Very few people have ever seen 
him.” 

“Will you boys go, too?” asked 
Dorothy. 

“Of course we will,” said Jack. 

“And will you take us to-morrow, 
Mr. Boritz?” asked Dorothy of the 
wood-cutter. 

“I’ll be glad to,” answered Boritz. 
“I like an adventure as well as the 
next man.” 

“Good!” said Jack, who, thought 
Dorothy had been taking the lead in 
the matter quite long enough. “We’ll 
go to-morrow.” 

The children slept out in the forest 
that night on hemlock boughs, washed 


In the Forest 


75 


their faces in a jolly little brook the 
next morning, and enjoyed it all very 
much. 

Boritz brought them a good break- 
fast, and they started out for the cave 
of the gnomes with never a thought of 
the dangers that lay before them. 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE GNOMES’ CAVE 

JT was nearly noon when they came 
in sight of the hill that marked the 
entrance to the cave. The hill was 
just beyond the edge of the forest and 
was covered with a thick carpet of 
clover in which cattle were feeding in 
great content. Here and there was a 
big tree, and in the shade of the 
branches could be seen the herders, 
lazily taking their ease. 

“ I don’t see anything that looks like 
a cave,” grumbled Crankle. 

"Just you wait a minute, young 
man,” laughed the woodsman, "and 
perhaps you’ll see more cave than you 

76 


The Gnomes’ Cave 77 

want to.” As he spoke, he turned into 
a path that ran at right angles to the 
one they had been following, and soon 
they all plunged into a dense growth 
of bushes. Pushing their way through 
the underbrush, they came to a rock 
nearly a hundred feet high, and at the 
base of it was a great black opening, 
with steps leading down into the depths 
of the earth. 

“There it is,” cried Jack, with an 
expectant shiver. 

“Yes, that is the cave,” said the 
woodsman, “ but I have been worrying 
about our girl, here. Don’t you think 
you would better wait outside, Miss 
Dorothy, until we see what King Gera- 
dar is going to do with us ? ” 

“Never!” said Dorothy, stoutly. “I 
always go with Jack. Don’t I, 
brother ? ” 


78 The GoMen Palace 

“Yes, she does, and she is just as 
brave as I am,” said Jack, loyally. 

“All right. Come on, then,” said 
the woodsman, and they cautiously 
walked over to the mouth of the cave 
and peered down into the opening. 

The cave was lighted by flaring 
torches, set at intervals along the walls, 
and casting an uncertain light among 
the rocks. 

“Come on,” said Dorothy. “There’s 
no one to stop us.” But just as she 
put a foot on the top step a terrific roar 
sounded in their ears, that seemed to 
fairly freeze their blood; and there, on 
either side of the opening, crouched a 
big, tawny lion. The children promptly 
turned to run, when the woodsman 
called, “They can’t hurt you; they are 
chained.” 

At that, the courage of the explorers 


The Gnomes’ Cave 79 

returned. Dorothy shook her small 
fist at the lions and said, “I think 
you’re just horrid to scare us so!” 

It seems surprising to tell it, but one 
of the lions opened his mouth and 
answered her as calmly as King Gera- 
dar, himself, might have done. “I 
don’t think we are any more horrid than 
you are. We don’t go where we are 
not invited, and that is more than some 
people can say.” 

As soon as Jack could recover from 
his shock at hearing lions speak, he 
said politely, “We are sorry to trouble 
you, but we are looking for something 
very valuable that was lost, and we 
think, perhaps, King Geradar might 
know where it is.” 

“You might just as well go home 
again,” said the lion. “In the first 
place King Geradar was never sus- 


8o The Golden Palace 


pected of knowing anything; in the 
second place, he would not tell if he 
did; in the third place, he doesn’t like 
children and won’t be bothered with 
them; and in the fourth place, we don’t 
like children and if you try to go by 
we’ll eat you.” 

Jack was trying to think of a suitable 
reply, when he felt Dorothy tugging at 
his sleeve. “Look here, Jack,” she 
whispered. “Did you ever see this 
before?” She held up a box. It 
was the everstick glue in the candy 
box. 

“I should say I did,” replied Jack. 
“Where did it come from?” 

“King Tib gave it to me just before 
we went to the council room. It has 
been in my pocket ever since.” 

“What are you going to do with it ?” 
asked Jack. 


The Gnomes’ Cave 8 1 


“Watch me, and see,” answered 
Dorothy. 

The girl stepped in front of Jack and 
held up the box where the lions could 
see it. 

“What do you think of that?” she 
called. 

“Candy ! Candy ! ” growled the lions 
in chorus. “Give it to us.” 

“Will you be good if I do?” asked 
Dorothy teasingly. 

“We’ll break our chains and eat you 
up, if you don’t,” growled the lions. 

“I have heard that candy wasn’t 
good for lions,” laughed the girl. 

“Nonsense, nonsense,” said one of 
the lions snappishly. “That’s what 
King Geradar says and he never knows 
what he is talking about.” 

“Hurry! Hurry!” cried the other, 
“or we shall break our chains.” 


82 The Golden Palace 


Dorothy opened the box. 

“Big pieces, mind you,” called one 
beast, warningly. 

“Hurry!” said the other. 

“Open your mouths,” said Dorothy, 
and like a flash she threw a piece to 
each of them. 

“Snap, snap,” went their jaws, and 
then the trouble began. They danced 
up and down, clawed the air, and pulled 
with all their might to get their jaws 
apart, but the glue held fast; then round 
and round they whirled like Duke 
Toughenuff’s terrier. 

It was the children’s chance. “Come 
on,” said Dorothy, and they darted 
past before the lions realized what they 
were about. 

“Good-by,” called Dorothy, “and 
the next time remember to be more 


The Gnomes’ Cave 83 

polite to visitors and not so greedy 
when you see a little bit of candy.” 

However, the troubles of the explor- 
ers were not yet over, for they had 
gone but a little way down the great 
hallway of the cave, when they were 
stopped by the gnomes’ guard. There 
were about a dozen of the little fellows, 
and they were dressed in pointed shoes 
and absurd-looking pointed caps. 

“Who are you?” asked one of 
the gnomes, who seemed to be in 
charge. 

“We are the godchildren and pages 
of the great Queen Nepta, of the Hun- 
dred Islands,” said Jack, “and this is 
our friend Boritz, the soldier. We wish 
to see the mighty King Geradar.” 

“Very well,” said the captain of the 
guard, who seemed to be much im- 


84 The Golden Palace 

pressed. “ Kindly wait here until I 
can inform his Majesty of your 
request.” 

“How did you think of such a fine 
speech, Jack,” asked Crinkle, after the 
gnome had gone. 

“Well,” said Jack, who was feeling 
very good over his important sounding 
message, “after we passed the lions, I 
got to thinking about the Little Green 
Lady, and wishing she were here to 
help us; then, just as we saw the guard, 
it came to me what to say.” 

They were all in high spirits and 
planning what to do next, when the 
gnome returned. “I am afraid you 
didn’t choose a very good time for your 
visit,” said the little captain. “His 
Majesty is greatly vexed this morning. 
Indeed, to tell the truth, he is really in 
a very dreadful temper.” 


The Gnomes’ Cave 85 

“Will he see us?” asked Crinkle in 
alarm. 

“Yes, he’ll see you,” said the captain, 
grimly, “but I am afraid you will not 
like your reception.” 

“He can’t be worse than the lions,” 
said Boritz. “Take us along, cap- 
tain.” 


CHAPTER IX 

KING GERADAR 

r p'HE adventurers followed the cap- 
tain down the main hall and 
through a dozen or more rooms full of 
squatty little gnomes running about like 
ants. As our party went from one 
room to another, each seemed to be a 
little finer than the last. Stalactites 
and stalagmites reflected the lights of 
the torches. Beautiful crystals gleamed 
from the walls and great jeweled lamps 
were everywhere. At last they came to 
the finest room of all, which the guide 
said was the king’s antechamber. They 
were given no time, however, to admire 

its beauties, for through a tapestry that 
86 


King Geradar 87 

hung on one of the walls came sounds 
of a most tremendous quarrel. 

“Call yourselves magicians!” roared 
a dreadful voice. “Call yourselves 
wise men, and can’t tell me that! 
Bring the executioner and off with their 
heads!” 

“Your Majesty,” said a protesting 
voice, “perhaps you would prefer to 
have the matter delayed. There are 
visitors in the ante-room.” 

“Visitors!” roared the first voice. 
“Visitors! I have fools enough in my 
own kingdom, without having more 
come in from the outside. Well, bring 
them in, and if they don’t know any 
more than those numskulls over there, 
I’ll cut their heads off, too. Bring 
them in.” 

“Oh, Jack, did you hear that?” 
whispered Dorothy. 


88 The Golden Palace 


“Sh, brace up/’ said Jack. “We’re 
in for it. Don’t let them know you 
are afraid. Look at Crankle — ” for 
Crankle’s knees were quaking visibly. 

“What did you want to see me for ?” 
growled the king, when the woodsman 
and the four children were assembled 
before him. 

“You tell him, Dorothy,” whispered 
Jack. “I can’t think of a thing.” 

So Dorothy went over the whole 
story, beginning with the banishing of 
the children from Neverland. She told 
how King Tib had tried to have them 
brought back, explained how the signet 
ring had been lost, and concluded her 
tale with the account of the escape from 
the palace and the journey to the cave.” 

“I thought you said you were the 
godchildren and pages of Queen Nepta. 
Been telling lies, eh?” 


King Geradar 89 

“We haven’t either,” said Dorothy, 
indignantly. “We don’t tell lies. Jack 
and I are Queen Nepta’s godchildren, 
and Crinkle and Crankle are her 
pages.” 

“Then I don’t see what you want to 
mix up in this foolish children’s busi- 
ness for,” growled the king. “And 
why do you want to bother me about 
it ? I have troubles of my own. 

“Oh, those fool wise-men!” and he 
shook his fist at a half-dozen spectacled, 
wobbly-legged, trembling gnomes that 
were huddled together, and shrinking 
from a hairy-armed fellow with a big 
axe. King Geradar turned to Jack 
and asked savagely, “Are you a fool, 
too?” 

“I hope not, your Majesty,” said 
Jack, trying to keep his knees from 
shaking. 


go The Golden Palace 

“Can you read?” demanded the 
king. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Say‘Yes,your Majesty/ ”roared the 
king. “Where are your manners?” 

“Yes, your Majesty,” repeated Jack, 
meekly, but he wanted to say some- 
thing very different. 

“Squills, Squills,” called the king to 
one of the spectacled gnomes. “Where 
is that volume ? ” 

“Here, your Majesty.” The trem- 
bling man handed the king a thin, 
paper-backed book. 

“This,” roared the king, evidently 
getting angry again, “is the book — a 
book that was washed ashore after a 
shipwreck. It has on the front page 
a picture of a man who laughs — 
laughs . Therefore it must be a funny 
book. The elves of the rocks found it 


King Geradar 9 1 

in the sand. The elves like to laugh, 
so do I ; everybody likes to laugh. 
They brought the book to me and said 
that if my wise-men could tell them 
what was in it so that they could laugh, 
they would give me a room full of gold 
— a whole roomful. They have it 
now, waiting for me, hid in the rocks, 
and my feeble-minded wise-men can’t 
make out a word of it. Boy, can you 
read it ? ” Hey, can you read it, or are 
you a fool, too?” 

Jack took the book. On the cover 
were the words, “Joe Miller’s Joke 
Book.” Jack laughed; he had read it 
a hundred times in Bonadventure. 

“He laughs, he laughs,” cried the 
king. “Can you read it?” 

“Sure!” said Jack. “Here is a 
conundrum. When is a door not a 
door?” 


g2 The Golden Palace 

“When is a door not a door?” re- 
peated the king, anxiously. “Why, a 
door is always a door. What do you 
mean, young man ? ” 

“When it is ajar,” murmured Jack, 
almost scared out of his wits. 

“Oh,” gasped the king. “Ajar — 
a jar. Oh, ho, ho. I see. I see. I 
laugh. Ho, ho, ho. Laugh, you num- 
skulls,” he called to the magicians, 
“before I cut your heads off. Boy, 
give me another.” 

“What makes more noise than a pig 
under a gate?” read Jack. 

“Ha, you spectacled idiots, can you 
answer that ? ” said the king. 

“There is nothing, your Majesty, 
that makes more noise than a pig under 
a gate,” groaned the magicians. 

“Tell on, boy,” said the king. 

“Two pigs,” answered Jack. 


King Geradar 93 

“Ho, ho,” said the king. 

“Wonderful! Wonderful!” said the 
wise-men. 

It was lots of fun for the children. 

“On which side of a jug is the 
handle?” read Jack. 

“Hum,” said the king. “Wise-men, 
go to it.” 

“The right side,” said one. 

“The left side,” said another. 

“The owt-side,” said Jack. 

“Ho, ho,” roared the king. 

“Wonderful! Wonderful!” said the 
wise-men. 

King Geradar couldn’t get enough of 
it. Jack read until hewas tired, andthen 
Dorothy took a turn at it. Finally, when 
they were all in good humor again, and 
the king had assured the wise-men that 
he wouldn’t kill them after all, Dor- 
othy resolved on a bold stroke. 


94 The Golden Palace 

“Your Majesty, do you know where 
King Tib’s signet ring is ? ” 

“Yes,” said the king, calmly. “I 
have it on my finger,” and he held it up 
to the light. 

“Oh, my!” exclaimed Dorothy. 
“Will you let me take it back to King 
Tib?” 

“Why, no,” said King Geradar, with 
perfect good-humor, “of course not. 
If I gave it back, then I couldn’t keep 
it, and that would be very silly.” 

“But, your Majesty — ” began Dor- 
othy. 

“There, there,” he said warningly, 
“don’t tease, or I shall certainly become 
vexed again. Do you want me to be- 
come vexed ? ” 

“Oh, dear, no,” said Dorothy in 
alarm. “I only thought — ” 

“Hum,” said the king. “I just had 


King Geradar 95 

a thought, too. Squills, bring in the 
magic wheels.” 

The spectacled magician darted 
through a door and soon reappeared, 
leading the last thing the children ever 
expected to see in a gnome’s cave — a 
bicycle. 

“My gnomes,” said the king, “ found 
these shining wheels in part of the same 
wreck in which the elves found the 
book. It is believed by the elves that 
it is possible for those slippery, sliding 
wheels to stand upright on the floor, 
without leaning against the wall or 
other support. I had the wise-men try 
to do it. Wise-men ! Y es, that is what 
they call themselves! And could they 
do it? Well, you shall see. Squills, 
Squills, make the sliding wheels stand 
up.” 

Poor Squills gingerly led the bicycle 


96 The Golden Palace 

out into the center of the room and 
held it straight, scarcely daring to 
breathe. Then he carefully took away 
his hands, only to see it fall over on its 
side. Then he canted the wheels this 
way and that way, but the result was 
the same; the bicycle promptly fell over. 
Once, he fell with it, a tangled mass of 
arms and legs; when he pulled himself 
to his feet again, a spoke of the bicycle 
was broken. The king grew purple 
with rage. 

“You, you — ” he could go no far- 
ther; he was too angry to speak. At 
last he controlled himself and turned 
to Jack. “Can you keep that thing 
from falling over, for ten seconds ?” he 
asked. 

“Will you give me the signet ring, 
if I keep it from falling for ten min- 
utes ?” 


King Geradar 97 

“Why, you impudent rascal,” began 
the king, and then he said, “Yes, I 
will. If you can do it, it will be cheap 
at the price.” 

Bicycles were not as common in 
Bonadventure as they are in America* 
but there were enough for every boy in 
the village to know how to ride, and at 
many a play circus Jack had taken the 
part of a trick rider. He looked the 
bicycle over carefully. It was of ancient 
pattern with solid tires; the bearings 
were stiff; the chain was rusty; the 
saddle gone. The absence of the sad- 
dle, the boy concluded, was what had 
mystified the gnomes as to its use. He 
took some oil from one of the torches, 
soaked the chain a bit, oiled the bear- 
ings, tied his coat across the upper bar 
for a saddle, kicked the pedals to see if 
they worked all right and jumped 


98 The Golden Palace 

across the wheel. Round and round 
the room he went, faster and faster, 
until he was just a streak of boy; while 
the gnomes watched in open-eyed 
amazement. Then he went slower, 
until, finally, with a jerk, he turned the 
front wheel sharply and stood stock still. 
Then he did a dozen or more easy 
tricks, familiar to all boys who ride a 
bicycle, and the king cheered until the 
roof rang with his shouts. Then Jack 
dismounted and made the king his best 
bow; and old King Geradar said he was 
a good enough fellow to be a gnome, 
and tossed him the ring. 


CHAPTER X 

THE ESCAPE FROM THE GNOMES’ CAVE 

WITH the ring in Jack’s pocket, 
our visitors would have been 
glad to have left the gnomes’ cave at 
once, but the king insisted on their 
staying to dinner, which proved to be a 
most embarrassing meal. 

The children had good robust appe- 
tites, and so had their friend Boritz, 
but it is hard to eat stewed tree-roots 
and fried moles, even if you are hungry. 
Then one of the servants slipped and 
fell, and poured a bowlful of hot stew 
down the king’s neck, and then, of 
course, the king had to grow purple in 

99 


LOF C. 


ioo The Golden Palace 


the face again, and, as usual, call for 
the executioner. Finally he announced 
that monarchs had a right to change 
their minds as often as they pleased, 
and so he thought he would take the 
ring back. 

“Guess we’ll have to run again,” 
said Crinkle. 

“All right,” agreed Boritz, “I’ll go 
ahead and clear the way.” 

As they darted through the door 
they met long-legged Squills. “Come 
on,” he said. “I’ll go too. Old 
Geradar will cut my head off if I 
stay.” 

Squills knew the underground rooms 
as well as any gnome in the kingdom, 
and the runaways scampered through 
one hole offer another, like squirrels in 
a hollow tree. At last, when they 
reached the big hall, they found that 


IOI 


The Escape 

they were almost at the entrance of the 
cave. 

“The lions! 5 ’ gasped Crankle. 
“What shall we do ? 55 

“Great lizards ! 55 groaned Squills. 
“I had forgotten about them. They 
will let no one by without order from 
the king. 

By this time they were quite near the 
huge beasts. The lions had evidently 
succeeded in getting their jaws loose 
from the glue, but they were still rub- 
bing their cheeks with their paws as if 
the pain might not be entirely gone yet. 

But if there was peril in front of the 
children, danger also lay behind them, 
for down the hall came the noise of the 
approaching guard. The woodsman 
drew a long knife from his belt. 

“I will fight the lions while you run 
through , 55 he said bravely. 


102 The Golden Palace 


“Oh, no,” said Dorothy. “I have 
a better plan. You just watch me.” 

To the amazement of the runaways 
the girl went quietly up to the nearest 
lion, and whispered something in his 
ear. Next she shook paws with both 
of them, and then turned and cried to 
her companions, “Come on. I have 
fixed it all right.” And as they passed 
out through the entrance of the cave, 
the two beasts were grinning from ear 
to ear over something they evidently 
enjoyed very much. 

After the travelers had pushed their 
way through the underbrush, the 
woodsman stopped them. “Now,” he 
said, “I am not usually very curious, 
but I certainly am this time. What 
in the world did you tell those lions 
that took the fight out of them so 
quick?” 


The Escape 103 

“It did look funny, didn't it?" said 
Dorothy, complaisantly. 

“Well, I should say it did," said 
Crinkle. What did you do?" 

“Why," said Dorothy, “it was simple 
enough. I just told them that they 
could get even for the joke I played on 
them , by their playing it on old king 
Geradar, and then I told them that I 
would give them the rest of the ‘Ever- 
stick’ if they would let us go through." 

“Now wouldn’t that beat you ?" said 
the woodsman. 


CHAPTER XI 

RUNNING THE GUARD 

“ J SUPPOSE the next thing to do is 
to get back to the king’s palace as 
quickly as we can,” said Crinkle, as the 
party stopped under a tree to rest. 

“I would give a good deal to know 
that King Tib is all right,” said Jack, 
anxiously. 

“So would I,” said Dorothy. “I am 
dreadfully afraid of that wicked duke.” 

“If sister Trot were here,” said the 
woodsman, “she would tell us what to 
do.” 

“Well, here I am,” said a voice, that 
seemed to come from nowhere in par- 

104 


Running the Guard 105 

ticular. The children jumped as though 
an arrow had struck them. 

“Who said that?” asked the woods- 
man, excitedly. 

“I didn’t,” said Crinkle. 

“Nor I,” said Crankle. 

“But / did,” said the voice. 

“That’s Aunt Trot’s voice,” said 
Dorothy. 

“Of course it is,” said Boritz. 
“Where is she ?” 

The voice commenced to laugh. 
‘Look up, man,” it said. “I am in 
the tree.” 

They looked up, and sure enough, 
there sitting calmly on a bough, swing- 
ing her heels to the breezes, was sister 
Trot. “Help me down, brother Bo- 
ritz,” she called, and I’ll tell you about 
it.” 


“Well, I certainly am glad to see you, 


106 The Golden Palace 

sister,” said the man. How in the 
world did you get here ? Is there any- 
thing the matter ? ” 

“Oh, nothing much” answered Aunt 
Trot, enjoying the sensation she knew 
she would make, “only this hill is sur- 
rounded by the wicked duke’s soldiers. 
They are looking for you, and say when 
they catch you they are going to hang 
the whole lot of you.” 

“Seems to me that we have had 
trouble enough without this,” remarked 
Dorothy. “ I don’t want to be hanged.” 

“Funny girl,” said Jack. 

“What shall we do?” asked Squills 
in terror, turning to Boritz. 

“Ask Aunt Trot. She always knows 
what to do,” answered Boritz, who did 
not seem to be much concerned. 

The rest of the runaways, however, 
did not take it in that way at all, and 


Running the Guard 107 

began to clamor. “Oh, Aunt Trot, can 
you get us out of this scrape ? ” Please 
tell us what to do.” 

“The first thing to do,” said Aunt 
Trot, grimly, “is to make less noise; the 
second, help me down from this tree.” 

As soon as Aunt Trot was on the 
ground again she struck out in a vig- 
orous walk up the side of the hill. 
“Come on — only do try to be quiet.” 

It was almost dark by the time they 
reached the higher ground, and the 
runaways could plainly see the forms 
of the soldiers as they passed in front 
of the camp-fires. 

“How did you know where we 
were?” asked Jack, as he strode along 
with Aunt Trot at the head of the 
column. 

“Some one must have seen you going 
through the forest with brother Boritz, 


io8 The Golden Palace 


and told the Duke, for the soldiers 
knew you were somewhere in this part 
of the country. Aunt Tilly and I saw 
the troopers coming up the road. I 
went out to see if they wanted any 
vegetables, and found they were after 
you. 

“The soldiers had no idea that you 
were going to the gnomes’ cave, but 
thought you were trying to hide from 
the duke, somewhere on Dairy Hill. 
They reached the edge of the forest 
this afternoon, and as it was so near 
dark, the captain decided to camp 
for the night, and explore the hill to- 
morrow.” 

“ But how did you get here, and how 
do you know the captain’s plans?” 
asked Jack. 

“Oh,” laughed Aunt Trot, “I went 
along to sell things to the soldiers. 


Running the Guard 109 

When they camped at noon I gave the 
captain some buns and jelly for his 
dinner, and all afternoon I traveled 
near enough to hear his talk with the 
lieutenants.” 

“Does the captain know where you 
are now ? ” 

“Yes,” replied Aunt Trot. “That 
is, he knows I am somewhere on the 
hill. There are a lot of dairies about 
here, and he sent me over to get some 
milk for his breakfast.” 

“Are you going to take it to him?” 
asked Jack. 

To Aunt Trot, there seemed to be 
some joke about Jack’s remark, for she 
laughed heartily, and said, “Oh, yes 
indeed, but not at all in the way he 
expects it.” 

“That is all very interesting,” re- 
marked Boritz, who was walking next 


iio The Golden Palace 


in line. “But isn’t it about time for 
supper ? I don’t want to go to bed 
hungry, even if I am to be hanged 
to-morrow.” 

“There is our supper just ahead of 
us,” and Aunt Trot pointed to a herd 
of cows that they had been following 
ever since they left the path. 

“A big bowl of milk would taste 
good after that dinner of tree-roots and 
moles, wouldn’t it, Jack?” asked the 
woodsman. 

“Yes, indeed, it would,” said Jack, 
“and there is the herdsman’s cottage 
right ahead of us. Is that where we 
are going, Aunt Trot?” 

“Yes,” replied the dame. “The 
herdsman is an old friend of mine, and 
he is the one who is going to take us 
through the duke’s lines to-night.” 

“Why — how-” 


Running the Guard 1 1 1 

But Aunt Trot only laughed and 
shook her head. 

The runaways received a cordial 
welcome at the dairy, and while the 
children were busy with bread and milk 
and cheese, the herdsman, Boritz, and 
Aunt Trot were evidently talking about 
something that was very interesting, 
for at the end of one of Aunt Trot’s 
speeches, the herdsman slapped his 
knee with one of his great hands, and 
said heartily, “You are a good one. 
Do it? Of course I’ll do it. I’d do 
it if I lost every cow in the herd.” 

Jack could restrain his curiosity no 
longer. “Aunt Trot,” he said, “if you 
don’t tell me what you are going to do 
I’ll burst, sure.” 

“Jack,” said Aunt Trot, “can you 
ride ? ” 

“Why, yes,” answered Jack, “at 


1 1 2 The Golden Palace 


home I ride old Dobbin down to the 
mill almost every day.” 

“I suppose Dorothy can ride, too,” 
asked Aunt Trot. 

“Why, of course,” said Jack. “She 
can do everything I can.” 

“How about the gnome and the sea- 
sprites?” asked the dame. 

“We can ride dolphins and tarpons,” 
said Crinkle. “We never had a chance 
to ride land horses.” 

“If they are real gentle horses,” 
commenced Squills. 

Aunt Trot laughed. “It is cows this 
time,” she said. 

“Cows!” gasped Dorothy in alarm. 
“Are they wild?” 

“As gentle as my donkeys,” reas- 
sured Aunt Trot. “Now, no talking. 
Here is a soft hay-stack. To sleep 
every one of you, and at two o’clock 


Running the Guard 1 1 3 

to-morrow morning you will take a 
ride that you will remember as long as 
you live.” 

The children thought they would 
never be able to get to sleep that night, 
but they did, all of them, within a half- 
hour. And it did not seem more than 
ten minutes later when Aunt Trot and 
Boritz had them up washing their faces 
to get the sleep out of their eyes. 

“Now, who’s afraid of cows ?” asked 
Aunt Trot. 

“I am not,” declared Jack. 

“Well, I am,” admitted Dorothy, 
frankly, “but I am going to do it 
anyway.” 

“Spoken like a brave girl,” said 
Boritz. “There will not be any danger, 
though. As Aunt Trot says, these cows 
are perfectly gentle. I am going to 
fasten you all on with straps so you 


1 14 The Golden Palace 

can’t fall. The cows will walk until 
we get almost to the soldiers’ camp — 
and then for a race.” 

“Will the soldiers chase us?” asked 
Dorothy, anxiously. 

“No, honey,” assured Aunt Trot. 
“Wolves often scare the cows on the 
hill, and that is what the soldiers will 
think is happening to-night.” 

“Will they be wild wolves?” asked 
Dorothy. 

“Not very wild,” replied Aunt Trot. 
“The good herdsman will be one of 
the wolves, and Brother Boritz the 
other.” 

As they had planned, the cows walked 
as quietly down the trail as though they 
were going to the morning feeding- 
ground. It was so dark that it 
was hard to see from one person to 
another, but the cows knew every 


Running the Guard 1 15 

step of the way, and not one of them 
stumbled. 

“There are the lights of the camp- 
fires,” whispered Jack. 

“Hush,” cautioned Boritz. 

“Are you ready ? ” warned the herds- 
man. 

“Just a minute,” replied the woods- 
man. “Ready, children?” 

“Y-e-s,” came back the answer 
through five sets of chattering teeth. 

“All ready, herdsman. Hang on, 
children. Ready! Go!” 

Then pandemonium broke loose. 
Howls that seemed to come from the 
throats of a hundred wolves filled the 
air. Crack, crack! went the herds- 
man’s whip. Jangle, jangle, jangle! 
went the cow-bells; and away went the 
cows, bawling at every jump. 

Besides the gentler animals the chil- 


1 1 6 The Golden Palace 


dren rode were a half-dozen fear-in- 
spiring bulls, who took the lead. They 
went crashing through the soldiers" 
camp, overturning tents, camp-kettles, 
saddles, and armors. A few of the 
troopers let fly arrows at random in 
the darkness, but before the rank and 
file of the soldiers could get their 
bow-strings adjusted, all that was left 
of the cattle was a flying cloud of dust. 

“Were you scared, Dorothy ?” asked 
Jack, after the race was over and Boritz 
had unbuckled the children, and lifted 
them from their perilous seats. 

“Was I scared ?” said the girl. “Was 
I scared ? Why, Jack, if I had been a 
little yellow dog, with a brass kettle 
tied to my tail, and had been kicked 
off the top of Castle Terribel, I wouldn’t 
have felt any worse than I did when 
Boritz said ‘Go.’” 


Running the Guard 1 1 7 

“It was pretty hard for a girl,” said 
the woodsman, “but don’t forget one 
thing, Dorothy, it was better than being 
hanged. Now, Sister Trot, as we are 
alive, what shall we do next ? ” 


CHAPTER XII 


THE PROCLAMATION 

“TTTE must get into the forest,” 

VV said Aunt Trot, vigorously, 
“and away from these roads, before 
those soldiers find how badly we have 
fooled them.” 

Although the weary runaways took 
this advice, they did as little traveling 
as possible. In spite of aches and 
pains they managed to drag one foot 
after another, until they reached a place 
under the big trees where Aunt Trot 
thought they might rest in safety. 

Too tired to think of breakfast, the 
children went promptly to sleep. Aunt 


The Proclamation 119 

Trot kept guard and Boritz went on a 
foraging expedition. The sun was al- 
most overhead when he returned. The 
children were awake, but stiff and sore. 

“Is it good news or bad?” asked 
Aunt Trot. 

“Both,” answered the woodsman. 
“I will give you the bad first.” He 
drew a sheet of parchment from his 
blouse and spread it on the grass. “I 
found this fastened to a tree by the 
big road.” On the parchment there 
was written, in red and green letters, 
the following: 

Proclamation 

Whereas, King Tib, who is nothing 
at best but a mere boy, has shocked 
and scandalized his counselors by his 
childish and boisterous habits, and has 
not only sent for children of another 
nation to come and visit him, against 


120 The Golden Palace 


the laws and customs of Neverland, 
but has actually used the royal signet 
ring of the kingdom in playing games 
with them; and, 

Whereas, in playing such games, he 
has actually lost said royal signet ring 
of the realm; and, 

Therefore, the august council of 
Neverland has tried him for the crimes 
above mentioned, found him guilty and 
consigned him to prison; and, 
Therefore, the council has elected 
the great and good Duke Toughenuff, 
King of Neverland ; and, 

Therefore, all loyal subjects of the 
kingdom are hereby ordered to assem- 
ble in the city of Sareb, on the first day 
of the next new moon, to witness the 
coronation of the new king. 

Done at the Golden Palace of Never- 
land, this twenty-seventh day of the 
second moon of summer. 

Gotanerve, 

President of Council and Minister of State 


The Proclamation 1 2 i 


“The king is in prison,” cried Doro- 
thy. “Oh, Boritz, what can we do to 
help him?” 

“It will be a sorry day for Never- 
land,” said Aunt Trot, “if that wicked 
duke is made king.” 

“Couldn’t it be stopped if we could 
get the signet ring to King Tib ? ” asked 
Jack. 

“Of course it could,” said Squills, 
who had taken a deep interest in the 
affairs of the children. 

“When is the first day of the new 
moon ? ” 

“To-morrow,” said Aunt Trot. 

“Well,” said Jack, “in some way 
we must get the signet ring to the king 
in that time.” 

“I could carry it to the palace,” said 
Squills, eagerly. 

“ But the king is in prison,” objected 


122 The Golden Palace 


the woodsman, “and the guards would 
never let Squills in to see him. ,, 

“What is the good news you said 
you had, Brother Boritz ? Perhaps we 
could get some help out of that.” 

“I’m afraid it won’t help King Tib 
much,” said Boritz, “but it will help 
our stomachs. The cottage of Mira, 
who gathers wild flowers for the street 
venders, is not an hour’s walk from 
here. Old Pholibus, the harper, is 
there, too. Poor old man! He looks 
feeble, Sister Trot.” 

“Is he the harper who used to 
play in the palace, years and years 
ago?” 

“Yes,” said the woodsman, “it was 
in the good old days when King Tib’s 
grandfather was on the throne.” 

“Why doesn’t he go there now?” 
asked Dorothy. 


The Proclamation 


123 


“From the same cause that hurts so 
many,” said Boritz. “The old man 
had an only daughter and six fine 
grandsons. When the law was passed 
that took his boys away, it almost broke 
his heart. He left the palace and made 
a vow never to return until the children 
were brought back.” 

“Haven’t any of them returned?” 
asked Dorothy. 

“None of them,” replied Boritz. 
“ Their time was up, years ago, and no 
one knows what dreadful thing may 
have happened to them. The old man 
grieved so, that, to comfort him, the 
elves gave him a magic harp.” 

“I heard him play it once,” inter- 
rupted Aunt Trot, “it was at the fair 
in Sareb. The tune was so gay that 
every one who came within sound of the 
music commenced to dance; milk-maids 


124 The Golden Palace 


and merchants; courtiers from the 
palace; and even one old counselor, 
danced away like witches.” 

“It must have been funny,” said 
Dorothy. “Do you suppose he will 
play that way for us ?” 

“I’m afraid not,” said the woodsman. 
“After the time passed away for the 
boys’ return, he would not play any 
more of the gay tunes, but only soft 
little airs, to make people forget their 
troubles. He goes from one home to 
another, playing to the mothers whose 
babies have been taken to the Castle 
Terribel.” 

“Wasn’t there some sort of a funny 
story about the robbers who caught 
him in the forest?” asked Squills. 

“All there was to that,” said Boritz, 
“was that one day, when he was going 
through these same woods, he came 


The Proclamation 125 

upon some robbers who had just killed 
a deer. The outlaws would not have 
hurt the old man for the world, but 
they insisted on his playing at their 
dinner. Well, he did, and played so 
gently and softly that they all went to 
sleep with their mouths full of meat 
and their fingers in the gravy.” 

‘Tm fond of stories,” said Aunt 
Trot, “but Fd rather have something 
to eat. We’d better be going.” 

When they reached the home of the 
flower gatherer, they found a little, 
straw-thatched cottage, with a big vio- 
let bed in front, and blooming lilac 
bushes on either side. In the doorway 
sat Pholibus, playing upon his harp. 
It was the most wonderful music the 
children had ever heard, and as they 
listened the aches and pains of the 
morning vanished like magic. At sight 


126 The Golden Palace 


of the children the old man dropped his 
harp and cried: 

“There are children coming! Chil- 
dren !” 

At this a woman came to the door, 
and she and old Pholibus ran to Jack 
and Dorothy and the little pages, and 
petted and caressed them as if they 
had been their own. The old harper 
thought, at first, they had escaped from 
the Castle Terribel, and his eager ques- 
tions brought tears to the visitors’ eyes. 

When Mira heard they had had no 
breakfast, her motherly heart was much 
troubled and she stripped her cupboard 
in her anxiety to supply their needs. 
After the meal was finished, Boritz told 
the story of the children’s adventures, 
and the old man’s eyes flashed with 
excitement as he heard of the recovery 
of the ring. 


The Proclamation 127 

“The king shall have the ring this 
night,” he cried, “if I have to carry it 
to him myself”; and then he stopped 
and covered his face with his hands. 
“My vow!” he said. “I may never 
cross the palace threshold until the 
children have returned.” 

“Grandsire,” said Jack, after a little 
pause, “our friend Boritz says your 
harp is the most wonderful thing in the 
world.” 

“Indeed,” said the old man, “I 
believe it is.” 

“Is it true,” went on Jack, eagerly, 
“that all you have to do is to think of 
what you want to play and touch the 
strings with your fingers, and the harp 
will do the rest ?” 

“Yes, my son,” said Pholibus, “the 
harp can do it; but,” he added with a 
touch of pride, “with me, the skill is 


128 The Golden Palace 


there, too. I was the court harper for 
King Darrel, in the good old days when 
there were children in the palace to 
dance to my music. ,, 

“Grandsire, would you part from 
your harp for a day, if it would bring 
you back your grandsons ? ” 

“I would part with my right hand,” 
said the old man, “if it would bring me 
back my boys.” 

Jack turned to the woodsman. “ Bo- 
ritz,” he asked, “may I talk with you 
for a minute ? ” 

It was, however, a quarter of an hour 
before the two returned to their friends. 
Then Boritz went up to the old man 
and said, “Pholibus, give your harp to 
this boy for a day and I pledge you my 
life that, if your grandsons are now in 
the Castle Terribel, to-morrow night 
they shall be with you in Sareb. 


The Proclamation 129 

“Sister Trot, you and Pholibus, 
Mira, Dorothy, and the rest of you, get 
together all the mothers in Sareb that 
love their children, and be before the 
palace gates at the coronation, to-mor- 
row, and you will see joy come home 
again to Neverland. Jack and I will 
leave you for awhile, but we’ll meet you 
to-morrow at the palace.” 

“Jack, Jack!” said Dorothy — she 
could scarcely believe her ears — “Do 
you think you may leave me here, while 
you go off like this ? Not much! I’m 
going, too.” 

Jack looked at Boritz and smiled 
“I told you so,” and then he whispered 
something in the woodsman’s ear. 

“All right, little girl,” said Boritz, 
“come along. Good-by, Sister Trot, 
we shall see Tilly on the way, and all 
meet in the morning at the palace gate. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE MAGIC OF THE HARP 

HEwestwas still red with the glow 



X of the setting sun, when three 
travelers knocked at the postern gate 
of the Golden Palace of Neverland. 
One of the wayfarers was a large, 
strongly muscled man, clad in the dress 
of a professional juggler. The second 
of the party wore the red pointed shoes 
and cap of a gnome, and while he was 
much smaller than the juggler was still 
rather tall for one of the underground 
people. A close observer might have 
been puzzled as to his age, for while his 
beard was quite as gray and almost as 
long as that worn by old Pholibus, his 


The Magic Harp 13 1 

eyes had a youthful look that scarcely 
matched his white hairs. He carried 
a minstrers harp. The third member 
of the party was a young woman, who 
wore a scarlet frock and held a tam- 
bourine. Her appearance, too, had its 
contradictions, for although her hands 
and face were as dark as a gypsy’s, 
the skin at the roots of her hair and 
behind her ears was white and fair. 

After considerable delay their knock 
was answered by a fat-stomached por- 
ter. The minstrel made him a bow 
and speech. The juggler, he said, was 
the strongest man in the kingdom; the 
girl could sing like a lark, and he him- 
self was a harper of no mean ability; 
they craved permission to play before 
the king. The porter laughed. Did 
they think that the great king of Never- 
land, who kept in his palace the best 


132 The Golden Palace 

musicians of his realm, would care to 
listen to any wandering mountebank 
who might happen to knock at his gate ? 
Still, it was a night of good cheer and 
it would be a shame to send any one 
away if he were hungry; so if they 
would wait a bit, he would bring them 
supper from the palace kitchen. 

Nothing daunted by this rebuff, the 
musician unslung his harp and let his 
fingers wander among the strings. An- 
other moment, a jolly, bubbling burst 
of music filled the air. The crowd of 
beggars who were waiting for their 
chance at supper pricked up their ears; 
their feet commenced to keep time to 
the music; their heads bobbed from 
side to side, and then, grinning from 
ear to ear, they danced away like mad. 

When the porter reappeared with a 
large trencher of meat in his hands, 


The Magic Harp 133 

what a sight met his eyes! Pretending 
cripples had thrown away their crutches 
and were footing it gaily on two sound 
legs; the ears of pretending deaf men 
were not losing a note of the rippling 
melody; and the pretending blind, with 
bandages thrown to the wind, swayed 
their bodies in perfect time to the 
motion of the tambourine. The por- 
ter, however, noticed nothing strange 
in all this, for at the sound of the music, 
with the pottage still in his hands, he 
too joined the dance, the merriest of 
the lot. 

By this time the palace gates had 
been opened wide, and scores of scul- 
lions, guards, and soldiers streamed out 
into the courtyard. The steward, 
alarmed at the noise, came running 
down, and like all the rest, willy-nilly, 
he joined the dance. 


134 The Golden Palace 

Finally, in sheer weariness, the har- 
per stayed his hand, and though the 
dancing stopped, the people from the 
palace were in such good humor they 
insisted on the musicians returning with 
them into the castle. 

The merriment produced by the 
music caused quite as great an uproar 
in the kitchen as it had in the courtyard 
and soon reached the ears of the nobles 
upstairs; with the result that the duke 
sent for the musicians to play for him 
in the great hall of state. 

As the minstrels walked slowly be- 
tween the lines of richly-dressed cour- 
tiers and ladies, the character of the 
melody changed; the maddening dan- 
cer’s note had gone; the gypsy joined 
in with a pretty song of spring and 
birds and brooks that was as refreshing 
and sparkling as an April shower; then 


The Magic Harp 135 

the sleepy note of a bird when the sun 
goes down crept into the song; then 
the hum of a kettle as it sings on the 
crane before the fireplace; and the 
lullaby of a mother to her baby. 

The heads of the old courtiers seemed 
to have grown heavy and nodded; the 
king himself found it trouble to keep 
his eyelids from falling; his lips parted 
in a tremendous yawn; his hands fell 
into his lap; his head dropped back 
against its cushion, and an unmistakable 
snore vibrated his royal nostrils. 

But if he was in the land of dreams, 
he had no advantage over his com- 
panions, for all of them, counselors, 
courtiers, ladies, guards, and soldiers, 
were now snoring in one amazing 
chorus. 

The only persons within sound of the 
magic harp who remained awake were 


136 The Golden Palace 

the harper, the juggler, and the gypsy. 
Along the hall they walked, the harper 
playing as he went, down the stairs 
again, stopping only long enough to be 
sure that the last of the kitchen folk 
were asleep, too. Then, down still 
lower flights of stairs, where the stones 
grew cold and moist; where gratings 
and bars stared at them from every 
landing. At the lowest step sat a beefy 
old fellow asleep with a great bunch of 
keys in his belt. It was the jailor. 
They had reached the dungeon prison 
of the palace. 

Now a change came over the old 
musician; he pulled off his cap and 
threw it on the floor; then he raised his 
hands to his face, and, wonder of won- 
ders, the white beard came out by the 
roots; next, the white hair fell from his 
head and — yes, you have guessed it 


The Magic Harp 137 

— it is Jack, and with him Boritz and 
Dorothy, on their way to find the king. 

The dungeon of the palace of Never- 
land was quite different from ordinary 
prisons. Criminals, robbers, thieves, 
and such people were kept in jails in 
other parts of the city. None but ene- 
mies of the council were confined in 
the palace dungeon. In the days of 
King Tib’s grandfather the dungeon 
was empty; and when King Tib came 
to the throne he commanded that all 
of the prisoners who had been locked 
in during his father’s reign should be 
set free; but the wicked duke had de- 
ceived him in the matter, and many a 
poor man had been kept behind iron 
bars for years, for no other reason than 
that he had incurred the displeasure of 
the council. 

So it was with right good will that 


1 38 The Golden Palace 

Boritz took the bunch of keys from the 
jailor’s belt and tried the locks of the 
dungeon doors. The prison walls were 
so thick that the magic music had not 
reached the prisoners, and as the doors 
swung open on their rusty hinges the 
inmates could not believe it was possible 
that they were free. 

As one poor fellow, pale and weak 
from confinement, passed through the 
door of his cell, he saw, by the flickering 
light of the torch, the face of the 
woodsman. 

“ Boritz!” he cried, and he staggered 
forward with outstretched hands. 

Boritz took the man in his arms and 
spoke to him kindly, but evidently had 
no recollection of having seen him 
before. 

“ Don’t you remember me?” cried 
the stranger. “I am Dorier, the page.” 


The Magic Harp 139 

“The grandson of old Pholibus,” 
gasped Boritz, in astonishment. Then 
he went on eagerly, “Your brothers — 
are they still alive ? ” 

“We were all in there,” answered 
Dorier, and he pointed a lean finger at 
the door of the cell he had just left. 

There was little time to talk, but 
Dorothy, at the woodsman’s suggestion, 
stayed with the six men long enough to 
assure them that their grandfather was 
still alive, and that they were really 
free; then she hurried on to join the 
others in their search for the king. 

At last they found him in a little, 
dark, narrow cell, and as Jack pressed 
the precious signet ring into his hand 
their joy may be imagined. 

“Jack, Jack, what does all this 
mean?” said the delighted King Tib. 

“It means that old Duke Toughenuff 


140 The Golden Palace 

and the whole court have all been put 
to sleep by a magic harp, and it means 
a lot more things, only we aren’t half 
through yet. This is Boritz, here, who 
used to be a soldier of your father. If 
it hadn’t been for him we never could 
have got you out. Don’t you think 
you would better make him captain ? ” 

“I’ll make him general if you say so, 
Jack.” 

“ Good ! ” said J ack. “ General, what 
shall we do next ?” 

Boritz turned to the grandsons of the 
harper. “Here, you boys run to the 
outside doors of the palace. Bar every 
one of them and let no person pass in 
or out until morning. The rest of you 
men come with me. Your Majesty, 
do you know where there is a lot of 
rope ? ” 

“Yes,” said King Tib, “right in that 


The Magic Harp 141 

cell there are a half-dozen coils that 
Duke Toughenuff has been keeping to 
hang some of my friends with.” 

“I think I can put it to a better use,” 
said Boritz, grimly. “Men, each of 
you take what you can carry and fol- 
low me,” and he started on a run back 
to the hall of state. 

The rope was just what they needed, 
and within an hour every counselor 
was tied up like a trussed fowl. 

“Now what?” said Jack. 

“I think we would better leave that 
to the king,” replied Boritz. “What 
shall we do now, your Majesty?” 

King Tib had his plan ready. 
“Jack,” he asked, “can your magic 
harp wake people ? ” 

“Yes, your Majesty,” said Jack. 

“Then,” said the king, “play your 
liveliest tune.” 


142 The Golden Palace 

“Will it be safe, your Majesty ?” 
warned Boritz. “What will the sol- 
diers and courtiers do to you ? Would 
it not be better to wait ? ” 

King Tib interrupted him. “A king, 
Boritz,” he said, “is not fit to be a 
monarch, if he shows the white feather 
in face of danger. Start up your harp, 
Jack.” 

The look of dismay that came over 
the counselors as they opened their 
eyes was comical enough. “We have 
been betrayed,” roared the wicked duke, 
as he tugged at his ropes. 

“His face is as red as Geradar’s was 
when the soup was spilled down his 
back,” whispered Dorothy. 

“What does this mean?” demanded 
the Lord of the Treasury. 

“It means,” cried Jack, speaking in 
a clear voice, so that all could hear him, 


The Magic Harp 143 

“that the lawful ruler of Neverland is 
to be its king. Long live King Tib!” 

At this the boy king sprang upon the 
dais where the wicked duke’s chair was, 
and made his best bow to the audience. 

At the sight of King Tib, the guards 
and soldiers, who had always loved the 
boy, cheered again and again, and 
waving their hands in the air, they 
called, “Long live King Tib.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE CORONATION 

A UNT TROT was so fearful of 
being late at the coronation, that 
long before the sun had risen the next 
morning, she had assembled her friends 
and neighbors before the palace in 
Sareb. Crinkle, Crankle, and Squills, 
the gnome, had climbed the pedestal 
of a statue that stood just outside the 
iron grating that marked the line be- 
tween the hundred steps of the palace 
and the public square. Aunt Trot, 
Aunt Tilly, Pholibus the harper, Mira 
the flower-gatherer, and their friends 
stood at the foot of the statue and next 
the iron grating. 


144 


The Coronation 145 

Although the time set for the actual 
crowning of the king was not until 
noon, as soon as it was fairly light 
crowds of people began to pour into 
the square. There were apprentices, 
bakers, sailors, blacksmiths, farm-la- 
borers, goose-girls, goatherds, and mar- 
ket-women ; smartly dressed clerks with 
quills behind their ears; beggars in rags; 
prosperous merchants in silk gowns, 
and hundreds of others; and in all the 
vast assembly there was not a single 
child, but — more the pity — many a 
sad-faced mother who would have 
given everything she possessed to have 
held her baby in her arms. 

Soon the people began to notice 
something strange about the palace; 
the usual tradesmen called at the pos- 
tern gate with provisions for the coro- 
nation feast but the door was closed, 


146 The Golden Palace 

and although voices could be heard 
faintly from within, no one answered 
their knockings. 

Later, when the great nobles began 
to arrive, only one at a time would be 
admitted into the palace, and that with 
a great air of mystery, and finally, 
after the last one passed through 
the gate, there was subdued murmur- 
ing for a long time and then great 
cheering. Every one was sure that 
very queer things were happening. 
Even Aunt Tilly had her secret, and 
exasperated Sister Trot almost be- 
yond endurance by her knowing nods 
and smiles. 

But where were Boritz, Jack, and 
Dorothy all this time ? And what had 
become of the magic harp ? The sea- 
pages and the gnome had almost 
twisted their heads off, trying to look 


The Coronation 147 

for them on all sides of the square at 
once. 

“Sister Tilly,” said Aunt Trot, “I 
believe you know where they are, and 
it would certainly seem a great deal 
more sensible, if you do know any- 
thing, for you to tell us where they 
are, than to shake your head like a 
cow in fly time and grin like a Cheshire 
cat.” 

There is no telling what Aunt Tilly’s 
reply to this sisterly outburst might have 
been, had not at that moment the doors 
at the top of the stairs swung open, 
and out walked the great nobles of the 
kingdom in their finest robes; there was 
something queer about them, too, for 
although their ladies were dressed in 
their finest raiment and wore all their 
beautiful jewels, and although they were 
all smiling most radiantly, their eyes 


148 The Golden Palace 

looked as though they had been crying 
and there were still tears on some of 
the cheeks. 

"It’s poor King Tib they're crying 
about," said an honest-looking farmer’s 
wife. “ Those wicked counselors have 
done something to poor Tib." Then 
she cried at the top of her voice, “Give 
us back King Tib." 

“Long live the noble Duke Tough- 
enuff," cried one of the duke’s soldiers, 
who was in the crowd. 

The duke, however, had few friends 
in Sareb, and it would have fared badly 
with the soldier who cheered him had 
not something caught the attention of 
the crowd at that moment. 

A big, fine-looking man had come 
out from the palace hall and waved his 
hand at the people. He was dressed 
in the uniform of King Tib’s own 


The Coronation 149 

guard, and wore on his breast the 
glittering star of a general. 

“ Bless my heart ! ” gasped Aunt Trot. 
"It’s Brother Boritz. Sister Tilly, Sis- 
ter Tilly, did you know this? Am I 
dreaming ? ” 

The man in the brilliant uniform 
was speaking to the crowd. It was no 
fine speech, but in the words of a 
soldier he was telling the people the 
story of the signet ring; how King Tib 
had been put in prison; how Jack and 
Dorothy had found the ring and 
brought it back to Sareb; and, finally, 
the thrilling tale of the rescue of their 
boy king. “So there will be no coro- 
nation of Duke Toughenuff,” concluded 
Boritz, “but King Tib will come back 
again to his own.” 

When he finished, how the people 
did cheer; how the bands did play; 


150 The Golden Palace 

what a waving of flags and what shouts 
of joy! There was no doubt that the 
people loved King Tib. 

Then, out from the hall, walked a 
manly looking boy with a little band of 
gold about his head; and behind him 
came another good-looking boy, and 
an equally good-looking girl. It was, 
of course, King Tib, Jack, and Doro- 
thy. Then the cheering commenced 
all over again. The charcoal burners 
said, afterwards, that they heard it 
miles away, out in the forest. 

At last King Tib commenced his 
speech: “I never was so happy in my 
life — ” he began. 

“ Hurrah !” cried the men. 

“Bless the dear boy!” said the 
women. 

“And,” went on King Tib, “I want 
every one of you to be just as happy 


The Coronation 15 i 

as I am. There is one thing that has 
been making us all sad for years, 
and that is the Castle Terribel. Our 
brave General Boritz has told you 
about the decree I intended to sign 
the day the signet ring was lost. 
The council burned that one, but 
last night we wrote another, and the 
new one has been signed, sealed, and 
made the law. Our children are com- 
ing back!” 

At that the people commenced cheer- 
ing louder than ever. Strangers hugged 
each other like long-lost brothers. The 
mothers, however, did not cheer so 
much, their hearts were so full that 
they did not feel like cheering, and — 
queer, isn’t it ? — some of them were 
so happy they cried — almost all of 
them did. 

Listen, the king is saying something 


152 The Golden Palace 

else: “Last night, as soon as we had 
the old counselors comfortably dis- 
posed of — no, we didn’t send them 
to prison, we put them into a nice 
comfortable room; we are going to 
send them out into the forest in a few 
days, and hope, in time, to teach them 
how to cut wood. Well, as soon as 
they were out of the way, the first 
thing we did, Jack and Dorothy, Bo- 
ritz and I, was to send a copy of the 
new law up to the Castle Terribel, with 
a message to the keeper, that if he did 
not want to have a chance at wood- 
cutting, too, to start the children down 
toward Sareb as soon as it was light. 
We sent a lot of good men along to be 
sure they should make the journey in 
safety. It ought to be about time for 
them to be in sight now, so we fellows, 
here,” and he waved his hand toward 


The Coronation 153 

the nobles, “will adjourn our show in 
favor of the kids.” 

As every one knows, the Castle Ter- 
ribel was situated on the top of a rocky 
mountain, whose foot-hills ran down 
to the edge of the city of Sareb, and 
although it was seamed with deep 
precipices and rocky gorges, there had 
been so much wicked traffic between 
the town and the castle that a good 
road had been made along the entire 
way. 

It was down this road that the babies 
were to come. The king had had good 
advisers the night before, and hundreds 
of soldiers, and donkeys without num- 
ber, had been sent up the mountain 
trail to bring the children back, and 
now they were coming. 

As the excited crowd reached the 
city gate, the procession could be seen, 


154 The Golden Palace 

filing along the mountain road, the big 
boys in front running and shouting; 
the girls waving flags and singing; and 
bringing up the rear were the little 
fellows on the donkeys, carefully 
watched over by the big, brawny 
soldiers. 

Well, what a time it was! Parents 
finding their children, and children 
finding their parents; little girls had 
grown almost into women; mothers 
who had seen their toddling babies 
taken away from them years before, 
now saw big, manly boys coming back. 
They laughed and hugged each other 
worse than the men had done an hour 
before. 

Then the people all went back to 
the palace again, where they found 
King Tib surrounded by Jack and 
Dorothy, Crinkle and Crankle, Boritz, 



\ 


The Children are set Free 



























■ 4 







/ 































The Coronation 155 

Aunt Tilly, Aunt Trot, Noddy the 
secretary, Squills the gnome, and the 
old harper with his six boys. 

“Are you people happy?” called 
King Tib to the crowd. 

“Yes, yes,” they shouted. “Hurrah! 
Hurrah! Long live King Tib! Long 
live Jack and Dorothy! Long live 
King Tib! ” 


CHAPTER XV 


BACK TO BONADVENTURE 

OW that we have the children 



X ^1 back,” said the king, “what do 
you say to having a big picnic next 
week ? ” 

“That would be fine,” said Crinkle, 
“only Crankle and I have to go home.” 

“Nonsense,” said the king, “this is 
your home now.” 

For answer, Crinkle handed the king 
a letter that read as follows: 

“To Crinkle and Crankle, pages of 
Queen Nepta, at the Golden Palace, 
in the city of Sareb. 

“Her Majesty directs me to state 
that much as she regrets to shorten 


Bonadventure 157 

your visit, she feels obliged to ask your 
presence at her palace, as soon as it is 
convenient for you to reach there. A 
princess from an adjoining island is to 
visit the palace the next quarter moon, 
and you will both be needed in the 
preparation for her entertainment. 

“Her Majesty suggests that, pos- 
sibly, after the four days of play her 
godchildren have enjoyed, they, too, 
may be ready to start home. In that 
case, Crinkle and Crankle may escort 
the raft as far as the shores of Bon- 
adventure. 

“Her Majesty sends greetings to 
King Tib, and love to Jack and Doro- 
thy, Crinkle and Crankle. 

Seradale, 

Secretary to her Majesty. 

“How did this reach you?” asked 
King Tib in surprise. 

“It was handed me just a few 


158 The Golden Palace 

minutes ago / 5 said Crinkle, “by one 
of her Majesty’s messengers, who rode 
a tarpon all night long to get it to me . 55 

“ Wouldn’t Queen Nepta be sur- 
prised if she knew what we had been 
doing these last four days ? 55 laughed 
Dorothy. 

“ Wouldn’t she?” said King Tib. 
“From her letter she seems to think 
that we have had one continuous round 
of birthday parties ever since you 
came.” 

“I’m sorry,” said Crinkle, “but I sup- 
pose it’s time for us to say good-by.” 

“And so must we,” said Dorothy. 

“But surely it isn’t necessary for 
you and Jack to go, too,” objected the 
king. 

“Oh, yes, it is, too,” said Jack 
seriously. “Grandfather must be al- 
most out of kindling by this time.” 


CHAPTER XVI 

QUEEN NEPTA’S INVITATION 

I T was ten months since Jack and 
Dorothy had made their visit to 
Neverland. School in the grove had 
been attended faithfully, and Jaron, the 
master, was proud of the progress they 
had made in their studies. Jack had 
put in a good many hours at the grist- 
mill and Dorothy had been equally 
diligent with her small housewifely 
duties; and when Grandfather would 
boast about what a fine miller Jack 
was getting to be, Grandmother would 
laugh and say, “ But he can’t beat 
Dorothy. You wait until dinner and 

see the pie she has made.” 

159 


160 The Golden Palace 


It was a fine summer evening. The 
two gray-haired and the two brown- 
haired members of this nice little family 
were sitting on the vine-covered porch. 
Grandfather was in the midst of a tale 
of the good old days when he was a 
boy, when a sharp whistle was heard 
in the direction of the beach, and then 
a sturdy, boyish “hoo-a-loo ” sounded 
through the darkness. The children 
bounced to their feet like rubber 
balls. 

“ Jack, Jack, do you know who that 
sounds like ? ” 

“I surely do,” said Jack, excitedly. 
“It’s Crinkle the page!” and he darted 
down the path and over the fence. 
Dorothy scuttled after him, and ten 
minutes later the old people heard them 
coming up the road. 

"It’s Crinkle,” said Jack, compos- 


Queen Nepta 161 

edly. “He just came in on the magic 
raft.” He tried to speak in the same 
commonplace tone that we would use 
if we should say, “Yes, he just came 
in on the ten o’clock train.” 

Dorothy, however, made no pretense . 
at calmness. “He has a letter for you, 
Grandfather. It’s from Queen Nepta, 
and Crinkle thinks it’s about us. Oh, 
open it quick, and see what she says.” 

Grandfather and Grandmother gave 
the little page a very cordial welcome. 
“You must excuse the manners of our 
children,” said Grandmother, “but I 
don’t wonder that they are excited.” 

It is just possible that Grandfather 
was a little excited, too, for letters from 
queens are not common things even in 
Bonadventure. One thing was sure, 
he lost no time in opening the letter. 
This is what he read: 


1 62 The Golden Palace 

“To the Miller of Bonadventure : 

“I feel that I owe you and your good 
wife an apology for the unceremonious 
way in which I carried off your god- 
children, a year ago, and I hope you 
will indicate that you have forgiven my 
rudeness by letting Jack and Dorothy 
take another little trip, with my page, 
to Nussuchplace. They will have a 
good time, and I promise to return 
them safe and sound, within a month. 

“Their welfare will be looked after 
by 

“Nepta.” 

Then, of course, Dorothy cried, “Oh, 
Grandmother, may we go ? ” and 
Grandmother said she had no objec- 
tions if Grandfather had none, and 
Grandfather said both of the children 
had done good work all the year, and 
he was glad they had this chance. 

The evening was spent with Jack, 


Queen Nepta 163 

Dorothy, and Crinkle chattering away 
like blackbirds. Most of their sen- 
tences began with, “Do you remember 
what King Tib did — ” and, “Do you 
remember how surprised we were when 
Dorothy — ” and, “Do you remember 
how the folks at the palace — . ” 
Occasionally Grandmother would say 
a word or two; her sentences usually 
began, “I think, Dorothy, you would 
better wear your — ” and, “Jack, of 
course you will be very careful and — ” 
and, “Crinkle, you will see that they 
don’t do any reckless — 

Grandfather didn’t say much of any- 
thing — he didn’t have a chance. 
He enjoyed every minute, however, 
just the same. 

The sun, the next morning, was not 
an hour high, when it saw Grandfather 
and Grandmother starting the young 


164 The Golden Palace 

travelers on their journey. Just at the 
edge of the village a broad river emptied 
its waters into the sea. At high tide 
the rising waters in the ocean pushed 
back into the river, making a very 
strong current up stream. A few miles 
above its mouth, the entire river dis- 
appeared into a cave, at the base of a 
high mountain range. No one in Bon- 
adventure knew where the source of 
this river was, for the mountains were 
so high and rocky and contained so 
many dangerous precipices that no one 
had ever been able to cross them. And 
as for the cave, the roar of the water 
as it rushed in and out, and the dark 
and forbidding interior, were enough to 
scare away all thoughts of exploration 
in that direction. It was, however, up 
the river and through the cave that the 
magic raft was to take the children. 


Queen Nepta 165 

Grandmother was almost ready to 
withdraw her permission when she 
heard of this feature of the trip, but 
Grandfather repeated his comforting 
phrase, “Their fairy godmother will 
take care of them.” 

So the children started. The raft 
was the same that had borne them to 
the shores of Neverland. There was 
the identical sail of striped silk and the 
same spicy odor that always made 
Dorothy think of mince pies. It was 
quite like old times. 

“It is so nice for Crinkle to be with 
us right from the start,” said Dorothy. 
“I am going to enjoy every minute.” 

But when they came in sight of the 
cave, it looked so black and dreadful 
that the girl shut her eyes and threw 
both her arms tight around the mast 
for support. 


1 66 The Golden Palace 


“You see, Dorothy never likes to 
go into caves unless there are lions 
around/’ explained Jack to Crinkle, 
with a grin; but an instant later, when 
the raft swooped into the dark opening 
with a fearful rush, Jack was glad 
enough to hang on to the mast, too. 

“Crinkle, have you ever been 
through this hole before ?” yelled Jack, 
as the cold, damp air of the cave 
struck his face. 

“No,” bellowed Crinkle in answer, 
“but it’s all right. Hang on. We’ll 
be out again in a half-hour.” 

It may have been only a half-hour, 
but it seemed like a day to the chil- 
dren, as the raft followed the current 
which twisted and turned through 
gloomy aisles; but the magic raft knew 
its business, and after a desperate 
plunge down an incline where the 


Queen Nepta 167 

water ran like a mill-race the raft 
darted under a low, overhanging rock 
and then out into the bright sun- 
shine. 

The young travelers found them- 
selves again upon a broad river, with 
the big mountain range behind them, 
and before them a valley of surprising 
beauty. Trees dotted the river-bank, 
and in the open spaces could be seen 
green meadows, orchards, and an occa- 
sional cozy-looking cottage. 

Suddenly the raft turned its bow 
toward shore and came to a stop at a 
little landing. 

“ Good-by, ” said Crinkle. “Here 
is where I leave you/’ 

“What for?” asked Jack in amaze- 
ment. 

“ Instructions,” answered Crinkle. 
“Her Majesty said I was to take you 


1 68 The Golden Palace 


to this landing, then leave you and go 
back home with the raft.” 

“ Where do we go?” asked Dorothy 
in alarm. 

“Oh, that’s the surprise part,” an- 
swered Crinkle. “ Queen Nepta thinks 
nothing is ever fun unless it’s a sur- 
prise. What this one is to be, I don’t 
even know, myself. My instructions 
are to go home. Yours, you will find 
in this package.” 

At this, Crinkle opened the secret 
locker in the bottom of the raft, and 
handed Jack a box. 

When the children opened it they 
found that it contained four tarts — 
two red and two blue ones, a whistle 
to which a ribbon was attached, 
and a sheet of paper on which was 
written : 


Queen Nepta 169 

“Instructions for Jack and Dorothy 
in Nussuchplace.” 

“After Crinkle leaves you at the 
landing, follow the path until it joins 
the king’s highway to the city. 

“Go to the palace, release the cat 
from the clock, give my regards to 
King Grumpy and have a good time. 
In order that you may understand the 
language of the people you meet, eat 
the blue tarts. Before you reach home 
eat the red tarts. Jack, tie the ribbon 
of the whistle around your neck; if you 
get into trouble, blow the whistle and 
you will be taken care of by 

“Your fairy godmother.” 

“Release the cat from the clock,” 
re-read Jack in amazement. “Now, 
what do you suppose that means ? 
Crinkle, what do you make of it? 
Where are we anyway, and what kind 
of a country is this ? ” 


170 The Golden Palace 


“It’s too much for me,” said the 
sea-sprite, “but don’t you worry. Re- 
member what your Grandfather said: 
Queen Nepta will take care of you. 
I only wish I was going along, too, but 
I have to go home.” 

“ Do you go back through the cave ? ” 
asked Dorothy. 

“No, it’s nearer the Hundred Islands 
to go straight ahead. While we left 
Bonadventure only a little over an 
hour ago, you must remember we came 
on a magic raft. It would take months 
for people to come in any regular way. 
You may have noticed that since we left 
the cave we have been going with the 
current; this river runs into another 
ocean not a great distance from here; 
you can judge how far we have come. 
Well, I’m off. Good luck to you.” 

As Crinkle finished speaking, the raft 


Queen Nepta 17 1 

shot out into the stream and in another 
moment was out of sight. 

“It does go rather fast, doesn’t it?” 
commented Dorothy. 

“I should say it did,” said Jack. 
“Now, I suppose the next thing for us 
to do is to follow the path.” 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE GOATS OF NUSSUCHPLACE 

HE children found plenty to in- 



X terest them at every step. First, 
Dorothy discovered a doll-baby tree. 
Haven’t you ever heard of a doll-baby 
tree ? No ? It’s very simple. The 
tree, instead of bearing fruit like an 
apple or a pear, had at the end of each 
limb, and kept from falling by corn-like 
husks, a lovely doll fitted out with silks, 
laces, and ribbons. 

“My!” said Dorothy, and her eyes 
grew big as saucers. “Look at this!” 
exclaimed Jack, pointing to what at 
first glance seemed to be a clump of 
bamboo, but instead proved to be the 


The Goats 173 

finest swords that ever a boy charged 
a snow fort with. 

Then, too, they found lemon trees, 
which, instead of bearing lemons as 
fruit, bore lemonade. All you had to 
do was to break off the end of a branch 
and hold your mouth under it and the 
lemonade would run until you felt like 
a small boy at a Sunday-school picnic. 

The children, however, much pre- 
ferred some candy trees, and it was 
fortunate for both of them that the 
crop was light. As it was, Jack con- 
fessed he would have felt better had 
he not eaten the last two dozen creams. 

By this time they had reached a 
broad roadway, with wheat fields on 
both sides. 

“This is the finest thing I’ve seen 
yet,” said Jack. “There is wheat 
enough to keep Grandfather’s mill busy 


174 The Golden Palace 

for a year. I suppose,” the boy went 
on, “that this is the king’s highway 
that leads to the city.” 

“I wonder where all the people are,” 
said Dorothy. 

Sure enough, since the raft had left 
the cave they had seen no one but their 
own party. 

“There is a house,” said Jack, 
pointing down the road to where they 
could see a gable over the tops of some 
trees. They hurried along until they 
reached the gate. 

“I don’t believe there is any one at 
home,” said Dorothy. “The doors are 
all closed.” 

“Look at that horse,” said Jack. 
I have been watching him for five 
minutes, and he hasn’t moved an 
inch.” 

“The chickens haven’t either,” said 


The Goats 


*75 


his sister. “ There is something queer 
about this house,” and they both looked 
around a little bit frightened. 

There stood a horse under a tree in 
the middle of the yard, with his head 
down and his eyes shut. Over his 
head were roosting a lot of chickens, 
all fast asleep. A cat was dozing on 
the door-step, and a big red cow, 
standing in the barn door, were also 
asleep. 

“I should think they ought to be 
awake at this time of day,” said Doro- 
thy. “ Suppose we go in and see what 
is the matter.” 

They started through the gate, but 
just as they went in, a very large goat, 
with very long horns, walked softly 
around the end of the house, and with 
solemn dignity pushed them both out 
of the yard. 


176 The Golden Palace 

“Why, this is the funniest thing I 
ever saw,” said Jack. 

“I’m glad to find something that 
isn’t asleep,” commented Dorothy. 

Jack concluded he would try it 
again. “It’s easy enough to make 
friends with a goat,” he said airily, and 
in his sweetest tones he called, “Here 
Billy, Billy, Billy.” Billy came; his 
horns struck Jack directly in the stom- 
ach; Jack sat down suddenly and at 
first opportunity made a hasty retreat. 
“Perhaps it wouldn’t be polite to go 
in,” he said gravely to Dorothy, and 
Dorothy laughed at him till her hair 
ribbons fell off. 

They had not gone much further on 
their journey, when they reached the 
brow of a hill. In the distance they 
could see the sparkling waters of the 
ocean of which Crinkle had told them, 


The Goats 


177 

and, at its edge, the chimneys, towers, 
and spires of a large city. 

At this sight they forgot that they 
were tired and walked on bravely. In 
about an hour they reached the edge 
of the town. Here they found parks 
and driveways, beautiful gardens and 
handsome buildings, but neither man, 
woman, boy, nor girl did they see; 
and instead of a watch-dog, each house 
was guarded by one of those ever- 
present goats with great horns as 
long as Jack’s arms, and solemn 
white whiskers, even longer, on their 
chins. 

“I suspect the people are all in 
town, doing their shopping,” suggested 
Dorothy. 

“No,” said Jack, doubtfully, “I don’t 
believe they would take the children. 
It must be a circus. If we keep going 


178 The Golden Palace 

a while longer we surely will meet 
some one/’ 

“The Little Green Lady’s instruc- 
tions said we were to go to the palace,” 
reminded Dorothy. 

“Yes,” said Jack, “and take the cat 
out of the clock. 

“Where is the palace ?” asked Doro- 
thy. 

Down one of the avenues could be 
seen a glittering dome, and the children 
turned their steps in that direction. 
The avenue ended in a large square 
and before them was a splendid build- 
ing, surrounded by a beautiful garden 
filled with flowers. It was doubtless 
the palace. On reaching what was 
evidently the main entrance, they were 
very much surprised to find the doors 
wide open. They walked boldly in 
and up a flight of stairs that led into 


The Goats 


1 79 


a splendid hall, quite as gorgeous as 
the one in the Golden Palace of 
Neverland. 

The walls were wainscoted with 
marble and hung with rich tapestries; 
the floor was covered with soft rugs in 
many colors; but still, no living person 
did they see. 

Jack and Dorothy tiptoed carefully 
down the hall, cautiously peering from 
side to side, fearing they knew not what 
might jump up and say “boo!” to 
them. 

Suddenly Dorothy commenced to 
laugh. “Here is your clock, Jack, and 
the cat, too.” 

There they were, sure enough. By 
the side of the double doors was a 
clock that towered almost to the ceiling; 
it had a half-dozen faces, showing the 
moon and stars, and figures of people 


180 The Golden Palace 


and animals in sunshine, rain, and 
snow; the sides of the clock were of 
glass or some kind of crystal, and 
within could be seen a bewildering 
number of wires, pinions, and wheels; 
but the curious thing about it was that 
a pane of glass on one side was broken, 
and hanging in the opening was a big, 
maltese cat, with his tail caught fast 
in one of the wheels. His awkward 
position did not seem to trouble him 
in the least, for his eyes were closed, 
his head rested on his paws, and his 
breathing came and went in melodious 
purrs. 

“How do you suppose the Little 
Green Lady knew it was here ? ” asked 
Jack in amazement. 

“Yes, and why did she send clear to 
Bonadventure for us to get him out ? ” 
asked Dorothy. “Of course,” she has- 


The Goats 181 

tened to add, “ we’re glad enough to 
do it; only it’s queer.” 

“ Suppose we let Pussy out and talk 
about it afterwards,” suggested Jack. 
“I shouldn’t wonder a bit if something 
queer happens when he gets loose.” 

So the two children hunted up a 
bench, pulled it to the side of the clock, 
and then piled rugs upon it until Jack 
could reach the cat. 

“ Careful, Brother; don’t hurt it,” 
cautioned Dorothy. 

Jack grabbed the fur gingerly and 
pulled. The cat never opened its eyes. 
Jack pulled harder, and finally, with a 
big tug that left a good many hairs 
with the wheels, the cat came away; 
the spell was broken. 

With a tremendous yowl Pussy 
jumped from his arms and disappeared 
down the hall, and things began hap- 


1 82 The Golden Palace 


pening on all sides: a great bell over- 
head began to ring; outside, other bells 
rang and whistles blew; dogs com- 
menced to bark; roosters were crowing; 
children calling, and crowds of men 
and women could be heard laughing 
and talking. 

“They must have waked up,” said 
Dorothy. 


CHAPTER XVIII 

WHEN NUS SUCH PLACE AWOKE 

B EFORE Dorothy could say any- 
thing more, the big doors in front 
of them opened and swung back with 
a bang; a band commenced to play, 
and the queerest procession they ever 
saw, started out to meet them. 

First, was a funny little man about 
four and a half feet high, bald-headed, 
except for a little fringe of red hair 
above his ears. He had a wart on his 
nose, and a bunch of red whiskers on 
his chin. He wore knee breeches, 
which made his crooked legs look 
rather funny; a red jacket, which but- 
toned tightly to his chin, and a long 

183 


184 The Golden Palace 

purple robe, that hung from his shoul- 
ders and trailed on the ground. 

Behind him came a large woman, 
fully six feet tall, with a red face, and 
still redder arms. She wheezed when 
she walked, and her dress did not fit 
well, but the red face looked kind 
and motherly, and was wreathed in 
smiles. 

Next in line came a boy and a girl 
about the age of Jack and Dorothy. 
They were really handsome, and in 
their beautiful costumes looked like a 
prince and princess in fairy land — in 
fact that is just what they were. 

Jack and Dorothy did not have time 
to notice the people who came after- 
wards, for the little man in front was 
bowing low to them, and the fat lady 
was making a ponderous courtesy, and 
all were talking rapidly in a language 


N ussuchplace 185 

of which the children could not under- 
stand a word. 

“I think it is about time for our red 
tarts/’ said Jack. 

“You mean the blue ones/’ corrected 
Dorothy, as she tugged away at the 
pin that fastened them in her pocket. 
“I knew you would get the colors 
mixed.” 

At the risk of looking greedy to their 
new friends, each of them bolted his 
tart at a bite; and then, strange as it 
may seem, everything that was said 
was as plain to them as if they had 
lived in that country all their lives. 

“My dear young people,” the little 
man was saying pompously, “allow 
me to introduce myself. You see be- 
fore you King Grumpy, the absolute 
monarch of Nussuchplace.” He bowed 
profoundly, “And my wife, here,” he 


1 86 The Golden Palace 


continued, pointing to the lady with 
the red face, “is the queen.” 

At this, the queen courtesied even 
deeper than before, and the king went 
on. 

“These two young people,” he waved 
his hand grandly in the direction of the 
prince and princess, “have the honor 
to be my son and daughter.” 

All four of them bowed this time, but 
King Grumpy did not stop talking. 
“And now, let me thank you, not only 
on my own behalf, but also on the 
behalf of my subjects, for so kindly 
starting us up again. We all felt as if 
we were very much run down.” 

“Run down ?” repeated the mystified 
Jack. 

“ To be sure ! ” said the king. “ When 
you took the cat out of the clock, it 
acted just as though you had wound 


Nussuchplace 187 

everybody up again; that is, every- 
body but the goats, who, I am glad to 
say, do not need winding. It was most 
convenient that you came along when 
you did, for none of us could run with 
a cat in our works.” 

“Oh,” said Dorothy, who was try- 
ing to make head and tails of all 
this. 

“You have the idea, my dear. “And 
now,” he continued, “let us all go into 
the dining-room, for I haven’t had a 
bite to eat since the cat fell in, which 
is two moons, six days, to say nothing 
of the odd hours, minutes, and sec- 
onds,” and he led the procession down 
the hall. 

Jack walked with the prince and 
Dorothy with the princess, all with 
their mouths full of questions, and little 
by little the visitors learned about the 


1 88 The Golden Palace 


wonderful country in which they found 
themselves. 

The Prince and Princess were even 
more curious about our twins, if such 
a thing were possible, than Jack and 
Dorothy were about them. The Prin- 
cess could not understand why it was 
that Jack and Dorothy did not have to 
be wound. 

“You are just like the goats,” she 
said, as though she thought it some- 
thing of a disgrace. 

“Why don’t the goats have to be 
wound?” asked Jack. 

The king explained that many years 
ago a wrecked ship had gone ashore 
on the island. All of the people had 
been drowned, but in the forecastle 
they found three goats alive and well. 
“When the people discovered that the 
goats did not run down,” continued the 


Nussuchplace 189 

king, “my great-great-grandfather, who 
was king at that time, had them trained 
to watch our houses during our periods 
of sleep. And all of the goats in my 
kingdom,” he continued, “are the de- 
scendants of that original stock.” 

As soon as Jack had an opportunity 
he asked, “How did the cat get into 
the clock?” 

The queen’s face grew redder than 
ever at this, and the king looked solemn. 

“We were just getting ready to go 
into dinner,” he said, “and there was a 
mouse. Well, the queen and the ladies 
— er — jumped, as it were; that scared 
the mouse and it ran up the clock — 
you know mice always run up a clock 
if they have the opportunity. Malta 
jumped too hard and went through.” 

At this the queen gave a shudder 
and the king went on: “I saw the awful 


190 The Golden Palace 

possibilities in a moment; we had just 
time enough to get decently behind the 
doors when the clock stopped and we 
all went to sleep.” 

“ And we might have been asleep for 
ages,” said the queen, with much feel- 
ing, “if you dear children had not come 
and rescued us.” 

“But, your Highness,” said Dorothy, 
“if we had not happened along, surely 
some chance ship would have come to 
your city and the sailors could have 
rescued you.” 

The king shook his head. “You for- 
get, Dorothy, that this is a fairy country 
and common people could not see it.” 

“I should think ships would run into 
the shore, if the sailors cannot see it,” 
said Jack. 

“The Little Green Lady looks after 
that,” answered the queen. 


Nussuchplace 191 

‘‘The Little Green Lady!” repeated 
Dorothy in astonishment. “Why, she 
is our godmother!” 

“And that explains,” interrupted the 
king, “why you are here. You are 
the first humans that have ever seen 
my kingdom, and you could not have 
come, had it not been for your fairy 
godmother.” 

During the dinner Jack and Dorothy 
tasted of many new dishes; there were 
flowers like carnations, lilies and violets 
which were good to eat; and Jack 
thought a salad made out of what 
looked like rose leaves about the finest 
thing he had ever tasted. They were 
much surprised, however, not to see 
any pie or cake or bread; in fact, there 
was nothing on the table made from 
any kind of grain. 

“I suppose,” said Dorothy to the 


192 The Golden Palace 

princess, “you have so many lovely 
things to eat, that you do not care for 
pie and cake and things of that kind.” 

“What are pie and cake ?” asked the 
princess. 

Dorothy tried to explain, and noticed, 
to her embarrassment, that all of the 
people at the table were listening, and 
was much surprised to learn that no 
one there, except herself and Jack, had 
ever heard of pie or cake or anything 
made out of flour. 

“What do you do with your wheat ?” 
asked Jack. 

‘‘Feed it to the pigs,” answered the 
king, promptly. 

“Don’t you ever make flour out of 
it?” 

They evidently had no idea of what 
he meant. As he explained, the king 
grew very much interested; and when 


Nussuchplace 193 

he found that Jack’s grandfather was a 
miller and that Jack had helped make 
flour, he exclaimed: 

“You must teach my people how to 
make this flour.” 

“But who will tell us how to make 
the flour good to eat ? ” asked the queen. 

“Dorothy can make as good pie and 
cake as any one in Bonadventure,” said 
Jack proudly, and it was agreed that 
Jack was to teach the people how to 
make flour, and Dorothy was to show 
them how to use it. 

Jack was very busy the next few 
days, directing the king’s mechanics in 
the preparation of the mill-stones, and 
after the mills began turning out flour 
it was Dorothy’s turn. She thought 
she would fail utterly when she remem- 
bered that she had no yeast or baking- 
powder; but the king’s chemist was a 


194 The Golden Palace 

clever old fellow, and when she ex- 
plained to him what she wanted he 
prepared a very good substitute; and 
after one or two failures, with the assist- 
ance of the chief cook and his helpers, 
she turned out a fine batch of bread, 
pie, and cake. 

The king did not care much for the 
bread, but was delighted with the pie 
and cake. 

‘Til make a palace out of it, and 
have it for a surprise when Old King 
Cole visits me next moon/ 5 

“Is there really such a person as 
Old King Cole ? ” asked Dorothy. 

“Certainly,” said the king. “He 
has an island about a week from here, 
and comes to my capital once a year, 
with his fine orchestra, to give a con- 
cert.” 

“I had heard of his orchestra,” said 


N ussuchplace 195 

Dorothy, simply, “but I thought King 
Cole was dead.” 

The king, however, was too excited 
to hear her. 

“That is the very thing. Won’t old 
Cole be surprised! We’ll make a palace 
as big as this, with rooms and halls 
and towers, all of pie and cake. Oh, 
it will be fine!” 

“But, your Majesty, if it should rain 
it would spoil it,” said Dorothy. 

“That’s all right, Dorothy, we will 
have the rains put off.” 

“I don’t understand,” said Dorothy, 
beginning to think that King Grumpy 
was a little bit crazy. 

“It’s simple enough,” answered the 
king. “I will tell the weather clerk to 
delay the rains until after King Cole’s 
visit is over. He will be here in three 
weeks and stay seven days. Crops do 


196 The Golden Palace 

not need rain for that long. It will 
get a little dusty but we will overlook 
that. ,, 

“Can the weather clerk put the rain 
off, and then make it rain when he 
wants it to ? ” 

“Certainly. What do you suppose 
I pay him for ? Don’t you have weather 
clerks ? ” 

“Yes,” answered Dorothy, “but they 
cannot make it rain and they cannot 
keep it from raining.” 

“Then what in the world do you 
keep them for ?” 

Jack tried to tell him, but he didn’t 
succeed very well, for the king said 
with a sniff, “Well, that’s what I call 
a trifling arrangement.” 


CHAPTER XIX 

THE PIE AND CAKE PALACE 

J ACK and Dorothy never saw so 
much activity in their lives as they 
did during the next three weeks. All 
they did was to advise with the different 
people in charge of the building of the 
Pie and Cake Palace, but that kept 
them busy, for it seemed as though 
every man, woman, and child in the 
kingdom was either assisting in grind- 
ing the flour or making pie and cake. 

There were funny, little old-fashioned 
flour mills all over the city, some run 
by hand, some by water-wheels, and 
some by horse, dog, or goat power. 
Ten thousand bakers were overlook- 
er 


198 The Golden Palace 

ing the making of the pies and cakes. 
With but few exceptions, all the women 
were peeling and slicing apples, 
peaches, plums, and apricots, and then 
cooking them, in kettles of all sizes, 
from little ones used by girls in the 
boarding schools, that held about a 
cupful, to the great copper kettles in 
the king’s bakery. 

Special orders were issued to all the 
hens in the kingdom to spend their 
entire time laying eggs for custard and 
pumpkin pies. “The hens can rest 
next month,” said the king, “and so 
can afford to work a little overtime 
now.” 

Even the army was pressed into ser- 
vice. Each soldier was armed with a 
chopping bowl and knife; then meat, 
nuts, raisins, citron, or figs were put 
into the bowls by the officers, and 


The Palace 


1 99 

when the Colonel, standing in front of 
the regiment, roared: 

“ Commence — chopping!” the sol- 
diers chopped away as though each 
blow chopped off the head of an enemy. 

All of the architects, carpenters, and 
masons were detailed to aid in the con- 
struction of the building, and every 
man and woman, boy and girl in the 
kingdom was to be ready to help at 
any time when called upon by the 
king. 

At last the material was ready and 
the construction of the building com- 
menced. 

The foundation was of rock candy 
— great pieces of it as large as building- 
stone — and how it did glisten in the 
sun. Next, they made the cellar walls. 
These were of gingerbread, except 
where they had to put in wooden 


200 The Golden Palace 


beams to give strength enough to sup- 
port the building. Next, the brick 
masons laid up the outer walls of the 
first story, which were of good sub- 
stantial fruit cake with guava jelly for 
mortar. The inside walls were made 
of a number of different materials; the 
pumpkin-pie room had bricks of pastry 
filled with pumpkin butter; the cus- 
tard-pie room, the cherry-pie room, the 
apple-pie room, and the apricot-pie 
room were just the same except for the 
different filling in the bricks. 

Jack and Dorothy consulted with the 
king often and long over the reception 
hall. They finally decided to have a 
wainscot of caramel cake; the walls 
above that, marble cake ; and the ceiling 
and throne of solid white frosting. 

In the middle of the reception hall 
was a fountain of lemonade, and swim- 


The Palace 


201 


ming in the basin beneath it were fishes 
cut out of pineapples with bright red 
cherries for eyes. There were won- 
derful pillars and beautiful statues of 
dazzling white candy, that looked as if 
carved from the finest Carrara marble. 

The outside of the palace was just 
as beautitul as the inside, and from 
the rock-candy foundation up to the 
highest tower it was overlaid with 
colored frosting, red, yellow, and white, 
the flag colors of Nussuchplace. 

After the work was all done, the 
king and queen, the prince and prin- 
cess, and Jack and Dorothy looked 
it over most critically. There was 
nothing with which they could find 
fault. 

“ I think that is pretty fine,” said the 
king, and the rest of them agreed with 
him. 


202 The Golden Palace 

The building was completed just in 
time, for to-morrow was to be the great 
day when King Cole would arrive with 
his famous orchestra. 

Jack and Dorothy were up the next 
morning with the first peep of light, 
helping the king get ready for the 
visitors. Everything at the Old Palace 
— as they now called the king’s resi- 
dence — and at the new Pie and Cake 
Palace had received a last finishing 
touch, and they all went down to the 
pier to watch for Old King Cole’s ship 
to come in. 

They had not been at the water- 
front more than a half-hour when a 
fine big boat came in sight. 

“It’s the ‘Pipe and Bowl’!” cried a 
small boy, excitedly. 

“It is indeed my good friend’s boat,” 
said the king, grandly. 


The Palace 


203 

“See the fiddlers on the deck!’’ ex- 
claimed Dorothy. 

Sure enough, there they were, filling 
the entire upper deck, three hundred 
and thirty-three fiddlers; and how they 
did fiddle in spite of the fact that damp 
salt air is very hard on fiddle strings. 

At last the boat came up to the dock 
and the sailors made it fast with the 
boat’s cables, the gang-plank was 
thrown out, and with a great deal of 
ceremony the visitors came ashore. 

First the fiddlers; then a company 
of soldiers; then the Pipe-bearer, a very 
fine noble indeed, dressed in a gorgeous 
uniform and holding a big pipe high 
above his head; then the Bowl-bearer, 
who was even finer than the Pipe- 
bearer, and who held his bowl with as 
much pride as a king might hold a 
scepter; then King Cole himself, a very 


204 The Golden Palace 

large fat man, with a smooth round 
face and a snub nose, who laughed and 
chuckled at every step. 

When King Cole came in sight the 
people all cheered and King Grumpy’s 
band played its liveliest tune. Dorothy 
whispered to Jack, “It’s just like a 
fairy story, isn’t it ? ” 

At last they were all ashore, and 
King Grumpy and King Cole em- 
braced each other with much affection. 
Then King Grumpy presented Jack 
and Dorothy to King Cole as distin- 
guished visitors from a far-away country 
across the seas; and King Cole seemed 
much pleased when Dorothy said she 
felt she had known him all her life; 
that his name was a household word 
in her country. 

King Grumpy looked a little bit en- 
vious, and Dorothy hastened to remark 


The Palace 


205 


aside to him, that when she returned 
to her own country she would tell her 
friends that no monarch ever lived who 
was more worthy of fame than he. 

They formed a procession and 
marched in state up the avenue to the 
wonderful Pie and Cake Palace. When 
Old King Cole saw the splendid build- 
ing his enthusiasm knew no bounds. 

“Wonderful! Extraordinary! Charm- 
ing! Beautiful! Magnificent !” he would 
say, and then stop and puff and try to 
get his breath. 

When all the “Oh's” and “Ah’s” 
and big words had been said, they went 
into the palace, through the central 
corridor, up the great stairway and into 
the main hall, where King Grumpy 
was to give the state reception to his 
royal guest. 

After the reception was over some- 


2 o 6 The Golden Palace 


thing happened that Jack and Dorothy 
did not know was down on the pro- 
gram. King Grumpy sat on his throne, 
and in his most gracious tones called 
Jack and Dorothy before him. He 
then made a long speech and told 
everybody what a fine king he was, 
what a fine country he had, and what 
a fine structure the Pie and Cake 
Palace was, and intimated that some 
small part of the credit was due the 
children, and then, with much pomp 
and ceremony, he made Jack, Duke 
of the Pumpkin Pie; and Dorothy, 
Duchess of Caramel Cake, and pre- 
sented to the newly made duke a medal 
of solid gold that was a perfect repre- 
sentation of a pumpkin pie. Then the 
queen crowned Dorothy with a coronet 
that was made to look just like a 
caramel cake. 


The Palace 


207 


And then there were more speeches, 
most of them by King Grumpy about 
himself, and the rest by Old King Cole 
about himself. 

By the time they had finished talking, 
everybody was very hungry and they 
all went into the great banquet hall, 
where they had a dinner that lasted 
most of the rest of the day. 


CHAPTER XX 

THE RAIN 

J ACK and Dorothy were pretty tired 
when they went back to the Old 
Palace that night, but happy in the 
memory of a most wonderful day. 

“It is too good to last,” said Dorothy. 
And it did not last. The king had 
intended to invite to the banquet all 
the people who had taken an important 
part in the building of the Pie and 
Cake Palace, but in some way he had 
forgotten the weather clerk. 

“When he knew perfectly well,” 
sputtered that dignitary to his wife, 
that night, “that the whole thing would 
have been a failure if I had not kept 

208 


The Rain 


209 


off the rain. But HI get even with 
them! HI fix their old Pie and Cake 
Palace !” And although it was almost 
midnight, and three hours’ walk to the 
weather factory, he tramped out there, 
and turned on the rain. 

The king was awakened the next 
morning by the splashing of the falling 
drops against his window. 

“ What’s that!” he roared. “Rain! 
Rain! What does this mean? Send 
for the weather clerk! Send for the 
prince and princess! Send for Jack 
and Dorothy!” Then at the top of 
his voice, he began to call for the 
queen. 

They all arrived at about the same 
time, except the weather clerk, who did 
not arrive at all. The messenger who 
had been sent for him brought a note 
from the foreman of the weather fac- 


2io The Golden Palace 

tory, which said the weather clerk had 
left the city, and would not be back 
for two weeks; that before he had left 
he had turned the rain on for three 
days, and had taken the key with him. 

When the king read the letter he 
almost had apoplexy. 

“Oh, the villain!” he gasped. “Wait 
until I catch him!” Then he sank into 
his chair and looked hopelessly around. 
“Duke,” he said, looking at Jack, “how 
long will the Pie and Cake Palace last 
in this rain ? ” 

“It will all be gone by night,” said 
Jack, sadly. 

“We must keep it from being 
wasted,” said the queen, frugally. 

“I have an idea,” said the princess. 
“The people have worked very hard 
making the palace; why not let them 
eat it?” 


The Rain 


2 I I 


“Might as well/’ growled the king, 
“and then I won’t pay them any 
wages.” 

In a half an hour everybody in the 
city knew that the king had turned the 
Pie and Cake Palace over to the people, 
and soon they were swarming around 
the building like ants, wading through 
frosting, that the rain had washed off, 
up to their knees. Inside of the build- 
ing it was still dry, and the people were 
not wasting a minute. Young and old, 
big and little, they were hard at work. 
Some were tearing great pieces from 
the sides of the walls, and putting them 
into baskets, bags, and boxes; others 
were content to eat what they could, 
with no thought of the hereafter. 

Here was a girl with both hands and 
her mouth full, crying because another 
little girl had taken a slab of chocolate 


2i2 The Golden Palace 


cake, that she had hoped would be her 
own next handful; and there was a boy 
who, in trying to carry off a piece of 
apple pie bigger than he was, had fallen 
under it, and was submerged to his 
eyes. 

For some reason all of the boys pre- 
ferred the pie rooms. One small fel- 
low was taking whole bricks of cherry 
pie out of the walls, and trying to put 
them into his pockets. The cherry 
bricks were larger than the pockets, 
and the result was not improving to the 
condition of the clothes. But the boy 
who was having the best time of them 
all was a fat little chap who had stuck 
his finger through the pastry of one 
of the custard bricks, and was lying 
on his back, letting the soft custard 
flow in an uninterrupted stream into 
his mouth. 


The Rain 


213 


The fact of it was, the people had 
gone crazy over pie and cake. They 
had never eaten any before, and acted 
much as a lot of pigs might if suddenly 
turned loose in a dining hall. No one 
had ever told them that trouble might 
come from eating too much pie and 
cake, and stomach ache to come had 
no terrors for them. 

All this time the rain had been pour- 
ing down. The roof, which, under the 
frosting, was made out of building 
paper, carried off the water quite well 
for a while; but soon the rain began to 
soak into the walls, and they began to 
melt. 

The wind was coming from the 
ocean, driving the rain before it. At 
last a heavier gust than usual, carrying 
a solid sheet of water before it, cast 
itself against the melting sides of the 


214 The Golden Palace 

house, and the roof, partitions, and 
walls went down together in a heap. 

That no one was killed was largely 
due to the fact that just a few minutes 
before it went down, one of the officers 
of King Grumpy’s army had sent his 
soldiers into the building with orders 
to drag out any people who were still 
inside. But all around the building 
there were men and women in melted 
pie and cake, up to their waists. Some 
of the boys had only their heads out. 

Everybody shouted advice, and 
everybody did the wrong thing. Some 
one turned in an alarm of fire. The 
fire-engines came tearing down the 
street, stopped at a water-plug, and the 
firemen turned a heavy stream of water 
on the melting building. But even that 
did not help matters. It was a wonder 
that half the city was not killed, but 


The Rain 


21 5 

while there were a number of accidents, 
no one was seriously injured. 

But, oh how sick those poor people 
were! In five hours they had eaten 
pie and cake enough to last an ordinary 
person for a year. Of course they were 
sick. Why they did not all die will 
forever remain a mystery. 

They did not think that what they 
had eaten had anything to do with 
their illness. Some one started the 
story that Jack and Dorothy had be- 
witched them. Oh, yes; that was it; 
the strangers who lived like goats had 
cast a spell over them, and the people 
believed it, young ones and old. The 
story quickly spread, and soon all that 
were able to walk collected in a fierce 
mob around the king’s palace. 

“Give us the children of the goats!” 
they cried. 


216 The Golden Palace 

King Grumpy was really very much 
of a coward, and when he heard the 
mob he was almost beside himself 
with terror. 

“Duke of the Pumpkin Pie,” he 
called to Jack, “take the duchess, and 
flee for your lives. Flee for our lives, 
too,” he added, “for if you stay here, 
the people will kill us all.” 

The prince, however, spoke up 
bravely. “They cannot leave, father. 
The palace is surrounded by this yell- 
ing crowd. Jack and Dorothy could 
not possibly get away.” 

Then the queen had something to 
say. “If you must be a coward, 
Grumpy, for goodness’ sake please do 
not let everybody know it. After all 
our guests have done for us, the least 
you can do is to protect them from the 
mobs of your own country.” 


The Rain 


217 

“Well, I didn’t ask them to come,” 
protested the king, ill-naturedly. “Their 
meddlesome godmother got them into 
this scrape. Why doesn’t she get them 
out?” 

“Oh, Jack!” cried Dorothy, “don’t 
you remember — the whistle!” 


CHAPTER XXI 

THE LITTLE GREEN LADY 

S URE enough the children had for- 
gotten all about the whistle they 
had received from Crinkle. Jack still 
wore it, fastened to the ribbon around 
his neck. Without a word, he pulled 
it out, put it to his lips and blew a 
long shrill blast. 

A minute later there was a cry of 
amazement from the crowd. Our 
friends ran to the window. 

From this side of the building, the 
palace faced a wide avenue that ran 
directly to the sea, and looking down 
the street to the ocean, the children 

218 


Little Green Lady 219 

saw a shower of spray leaping from 
the waves until it lost itself in the 
clouds. That was what had startled 
the crowd. When the spray subsided, 
there, resting on the surface of the 
water, was a beautiful boat in the 
shape of a shell, drawn by sea-horses, 
which were ridden by sea-sprites who 
carried conch-shell trumpets. 

After the children’s eyes had taken 
in these details, they noticed a little 
lady, dressed in green, step out on the 
landing. 

“The Little Green Lady!” cried the 
people, and they bowed their heads to 
the ground. 

“ It is Queen Nepta, our godmother,” 
whispered Dorothy, to her brother, 
shaking like a leaf with excitement. 

So it was. The Little Green Lady 
was walking up the avenue, quite like 


220 The Golden Palace 


an ordinary mortal, and entirely un- 
mindful of the pouring rain. On either 
side of her Majesty, dressed in spick- 
and-span liveries, with caps that looked 
like star-fishes, trudged the small pages, 
Crinkle and Crankle. 

Jack and Dorothy, and the prince 
and princess, raced down the great 
stairway, and met the newcomers at 
the palace gate. 

“I know all about it, children/’ cried 
the Little Green Lady, gaily. “What 
silly things these people are! Jack, my 
boy, you are getting to be quite a man. 
Dorothy, you are as pretty as a sea- 
flower. I saw King Tib last week, 
and he told me what you did for him 
and the children of Neverland. I hope 
you have had a good time here. I judge 
you have done several things for Nus- 
suchplace besides taking the cat out 



The Little Green Lady 




22 1 


Little Green Lady 

of the clock. I am afraid I have been 
rather remiss in my duties as a god- 
mother, but I think of you often, and 
love you — just how much you will 
know some day. Never do anything 
that you would be ashamed to have me 
know about, always tell the truth, and 
after your next birthday the greatest 
surprise of your lives will be ready for 
you.” 

There were tears — smily tears — on 
her cheeks as she kissed the two chil- 
dren, and then she held out her hands 
to the prince and princess. 

“Prince, I must thank you for being 
so good to my godchildren, and you 
too, princess. I am going to have a 
big house-party at the Coral Court 
some day, and we will all get better 
acquainted. But the first thing you 
must do is to teach your people the 


222 The Golden Palace 


proper amount of pie and cake for a 
rainy-day meal.” 

King Grumpy and his wife had 
reached the bottom of the stairs by 
this time, and they and the Little Green 
Lady exchanged cordial greetings. 

“I am sorry to hurry away,” said 
Queen Nepta, “but it is time for Jack 
and Dorothy to start home again. 
Their month is up to-night, and it will 
be late now before they get to Bonad- 
venture. The raft is moored up the 
beach a way, and I have asked the 
prince and princess to go with us while 
I take the children that far on their 
journey. We will be back for lunch, 
but will not eat any pie or cake. My 
regards to old King Cole. 

“By the way, friend Grumpy, I 
found the weather clerk, and he has 
gone to the factory to turn off the 


Little Green Lady 223 

water, so your happy subjects will soon 
have a chance to dry out.” 

You can imagine how delightful the 
ride was in Queen Nepta’s beautiful 
boat. 

Jack and Dorothy did not forget 
their manners, and very nicely thanked 
the Little Green Lady for the trip to 
Neverland the year before, and the one 
they were still enjoying to Nussuch- 
place. 

Then Crinkle told Queen Nepta 
about Dorothy’s adventure with the 
lions at the gnome’s cave, Jack told 
how the fishermen thought Crinkle was 
a sea-serpent, and Dorothy told the 
story of the Pie and Cake Palace. 

Queen Nepta reminded them that 
they had not had their breakfast, and 
after the steward had brought them 
some good things to eat the Little Green 


224 The Golden Palace 

Lady herself started on a story that 
lasted until the boat rounded a rocky 
point, and they came to anchor in a 
quiet little cove. 

“Sure enough, there is the raft,” said 
Jack. 

“How good it is to see it,” said 
Dorothy. 

“Do we go home through the cave 
again,” asked Jack. “Of course, I 
am not afraid, but Dorothy might be.” 

They all laughed at him, and the 
Little Green Lady said that they could 
just as well go all the way by sea. “It 
will be a little longer, but that will 
make no difference to my raft. You 
will be home in time for supper.” 

They said their good-bys a dozen 
or so times, Jack and Dorothy took 
their places in the middle of the raft, 
and the Little Green Lady and the 


Little Green Lady 225 

prince and princess waved their hands 
to them as long as they were in sight. 

The sun was just dropping down 
below the waves, when the children 
came in sight of Bonadventure. One 
of the fishermen saw them coming and 
called to his mates, and by the time he 
had reached the breakers the beach 
was full of people. They helped the 
raft ashore, and everybody commenced 
to talk to them at once, but the children 
could not understand a word. 

“What is the matter with the peo- 
ple ? ” asked Dorothy. “ They are talk- 
ing gibberish.” 

“The trouble, I guess, is with us,” 
answered Jack with a grin. 

“Oh, the tarts,” said Dorothy, and 
she tugged at her pocket where the red 
ones had been all through their ad- 
ventures. They were pretty dirty, but 


226 The Golden Palace 


the children did not mind that, and ate 
them even faster than they did the 
blue ones in King Grumpy’s palace. 

The people thought they were starv- 
ing, and said, “The poor dears!” But 
the poor dears only laughed, and Doro- 
thy spied a nice-looking man, with iron- 
gray hair, coming down the beach. 

“There’s Grandfather,” she cried, 
and they both ran to meet him. 

Tongues ran at a pretty lively clatter, 
that night, in the miller’s cottage, and 
when the children had finished their 
story, Grandmother took a long breath, 
and said, “Well,” and Grandfather 
took a long breath and said “Well,” 
and then added to Grandmother, 
“What do you suppose these precious 
children will do next ? ” 

The children were quiet for nearly a 
minute. 


Little Green Lady 227 

“Dorothy,” asked Jack, “do you 
know what we forgot ? ” 

“Yes,” answered Dorothy, “we for- 
got to say good-by to Old King Cole. 
What will he think of us ? ” 


CHAPTER XXII 


AT THE CORAL COURT 

HE fourteenth day of the Second 



A Moon of Harvest was a busy day 
at the Coral Court. There had been 
four audiences, and two receptions, so 
it was not until almost dark that Sera- 
dale, Queen Nepta’s secretary, called 
Crinkle and Crankle to her apartments. 

“To-morrow,” announced Seradale, 
“is the fifteenth anniversary of the 
arrival of Jack and Dorothy in Bon- 
adventure. Here are two packages 
that contain her Majesty’s birthday 
presents to the children. It was first 
planned for you to deliver them this 
morning, but, as you know, I have had 


At Coral Court 229 

a great many things to do to-day, and 
this is the first opportunity I have had 
to say anything to you about it.” 

“You mean you forgot it,” said 
Crankle, impudently. 

“Silence!” said Seradale, sternly, 
“or I shall repeat your words to her 
Majesty. You are each to take a pack- 
age and deliver it at the cottage of the 
miller of Bonadventure before break- 
fast, and then return without any 
unnecessary delay.” 

“May we stop and have a little visit 
with Jack and Dorothy?” asked Crin- 
kle. “They are old friends of ours.” 

“I am sorry,” replied the secretary, 
“but her Majesty’s orders were strict. 
The packages were to be left at the 
door, and you were to come away 
without being seen. I have arranged 
with the equerry for two sea-horses, 


230 The Golden Palace 

and you are to leave at once. I am 
sorry it will keep you up to-night, but 
you may be sure her Majesty will 
amply repay you.” 

As soon as the pages had left the 
apartment, Crankle turned to his com- 
panion and said bluntly, “I am not 
going.” 

“What?” asked Crinkle in amaze- 
ment. 

“I am not going.” 

Crinkle grinned. “Then the secre- 
tary will report you, and her Majesty 
will have a new page.” 

“Seradale will do nothing of the 
kind,” said Crankle, airily. “She should 
have told us this morning, and she for- 
got it. She won’t dare tell on us.” 

“Crankle,” said his fellow page, 
“you get sillier every day. If we 
didn’t go who would deliver the pres- 


At Coral Court 231 

ents? Just think how angry her 
Majesty would be.” 

“I don’t care,” said Crankle, sullenly. 
“We are going to have a new king 
next moon. I heard Seradale talking 
about it, and if you want to tattle, go 
ahead.” 

“You know I won’t tell,” said Crin- 
kle, “or you would be afraid not to 
go; and you know if you don’t go I 
shall have to, and I will tell you one 
thing more, if you ever dare to say 
again anything about the new king, 
I will rub your nose in the sand until 
it is stubbier than it is now!” 


CHAPTER XXIII 


BIRTHDAY BOXES 



RANDFATHER was the first to 


vJ see the packages, but he left them 
by the door, where he found them, and 
came in looking very gruff. 

“You children left a lot of litter on 
the porch last night. Suppose you get 
brooms and clear it away before Grand- 
mother sees it,” and he chuckled to 
himself as he watched his grandchildren 
stumble over the packages, and chuckled 
again at their “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” as 
they untied the strings. 

Jack’s present was a model of the 
magic raft. With the exception of its 


Birthday Boxes 233 

size, it was exactly like the big one, 
even down to the mince-pie smell. 

In Dorothy’s package was a won- 
derful doll, dressed as the Little Green 
Lady had been the last time the chil- 
dren had seen her in Nussuchplace. 
As Dorothy lifted it out of the box the 
doll opened its eyes and made a funny 
little squeak that Dorothy said was 
good-morning. 

“How old does a girl have to be 
before she gets tired of dolls ? ” asked 
Jack, critically, as he watched Doro- 
thy mother the new addition to her 
family. 

Dorothy laughed. “I don’t know, 
Jack; the candle-maker’s girl, next 
door, is ten and she thinks she is a 
great deal too old for them, now. I 
believe I shall like them when I am 
as old as Grandmother.” 


234 The Golden Palace 

“Is that why you take care of them 
so well ? ” asked Grandmother. 

At this, Dorothy blushed a rosy pink 
and went over to Grandfather and said, 
“Please don’t let Grandmother make 
fun of me.” 

“What is the matter, child ? Grand- 
mother did not say anything to tease 
you.” 

“You do not know,” confessed Doro- 
thy, guiltily. “Ever since I was 
eleven — ” 

“That was four long years ago,” 
said Grandfather, gravely. 

Dorothy commenced again, “Ever 
since I was eleven years old I have 
been saying about each doll that was 
given me, that I was going to put that 
one away, and keep it always — to 
show when I grew up, you know. 
Then, somehow, I would forget to take 


Birthday Boxes 235 

care of them, and some dreadful thing 
would happen — that is what Grand- 
mother means now. 

“But really, Grandmother,” went on 
Dorothy, “I am going to take more 
care of this one. I know I have been 
bad, but I won’t be any more.” 

Grandmother smiled. “I won’t scold 
you, dear, I am only glad that the 
Little Green Lady has given you 
such a beautiful doll to be your very 
last.” 

“That is just it,” said Dorothy, 
eagerly. That is how the Little Green 
Lady happened to give it to me. “I 
was telling her about my poor dolls 
when Jack and I rode in her beautiful 
boat from Nussuchplace. She said 
something about my next birthday, but 
I never dreamed that she would give 
me a doll like this,” and Dorothy cud- 


236 The Golden Palace 

died her treasure close against her 
cheek. 

The next thing to do was to name 
the new possessions. Jack decided 
that “Greased Lightning” would do 
very well for the raft, but Dorothy was 
not so easily suited, and after grave 
thought upon the subject decided upon 
Neptita. 

“It is not a bit common,” she said, 
“and it makes you think of the Little 
Green Lady.” 

As soon as breakfast was over, Jack 
and Dorothy, with Bob, the big black 
dog, at their heels, went down to the 
mill-pond. Jack laid out the country 
of Neverland at one end of the pond, 
and Nussuchplace at the other, and 
then carefully slid Greased Lightning 
into the water. The small craft did 
not disappoint him, but plowed through 



Mistress Neptita 

















































































* 






























































































N 










% 






* 

































* 



























































t 



Birthday Boxes 237 

the water, leaving a line of froth behind 
it, in a way that would have been quite 
worthy of the big raft that had carried 
the children to their adventures. 

All day long, Dorothy discovered 
new accomplishments in Mistress Nep- 
tita. She could not only sit up and 
stand up, but if placed on a solid sur- 
face that was quite level would walk 
off with jerky little steps that was very 
funny, indeed. 

“Jack,” said Dorothy that night, “I 
should be disgraced forever if anything 
should happen to this child of mine. 
And Dorothy was careful. Jack made 
a little bed that just fitted into one of 
the closet shelves. There she would 
be quite safe, and Dorothy tried to 
remember never to leave her any place 
else; but, alas for all her care; just 
four days after the birthday, Neptita 


238 The Golden Palace 

was missing. Dorothy was sure she 
had taken the doll to bed with her the 
night before, intending later to get up 
and put her in the closet; but, evi- 
dently, she had gone promptly to 
sleep and in the morning the doll was 
gone. 

“Are you sure you had the doll 
when you went to bed ?” asked Grand- 
mother. 

Yes, Dorothy was sure. 

“But if you had it when you went 
to bed, where is it now? The doll 
certainly could not walk out by her- 
self, said Grandmother, rather se- 
verely. 

“But you know Neptita could walk 
some,” protested Dorothy, “and Toma 
says that toys really play at night. 
Perhaps Neptita went off by her- 
self.” 


Birthday Boxes 239 

“I am afraid that is nonsense, my 
dear,” said Grandmother. “You are 
fifteen years old — too old to be so 
careless — and certainly too old to 
make silly excuses. If you ever see 
the Little Green Lady, please remem- 
ber never to tell her any such stuff as 
that.” 

Poor Dorothy! She could not re- 
member when Grandmother had 
spoken so harshly to her before. For 
her to think she had been careless 
was bad enough, but for her to suggest 
that she had tried to get out of it by 
making silly excuses was too much. 
Dorothy cried as though her heart 
would break. 

“What shall we do with the girl?” 
asked Grandmother, after she and 
Grandfather had left the room. “I 
was sorry to be harsh with her, yet it 


240 The Golden Palace 

seems as if something must be done 
to cure her of being so careless.” 

“I declare,” said Grandfather, “ I 
do not know what to think. I suppose 
she thinks she had the doll when she 
went to bed, but it is evident she left 
it somewhere else and has forgotten 
about it.” 

“What could have become of it?” 
asked Dorothy of Jack. “I know she 
was in my arms when I went to sleep.” 

“I don't know, but I am going to 
find out,” said Jack, stoutly; but he 
did not see just how he was going to 
do it. 

The children did nothing else for the 
next two or three days but look for the 
missing Neptita, and though they 
searched the house, the barn, and 
yard they could find no trace of her. 
Grandfather looked carefully through 


Birthday Boxes 241 

the mill, and at his suggestion the 
mill-pond was dragged, but no Neptita. 

Jack locked the raft in a closet; he 
had no heart to play with it now that 
the doll was gone. Dorothy felt so 
badly that she cried herself to sleep 
every night. 


CHAPTER XXIV 

MOTHER GOOSE EXPRESS 

“ ^GRANDMOTHER, 1 ” said Jack, 
VJ" one day, about a week after the 
doll had disappeared, “ Dorothy is 
making herself sick over this miserable 
business. The wild grapes are ripe on 
the other side of Walnut Hill. Don’t 
you think it would be a good plan for 
Dorothy and me to spend a day in the 
woods? It may give her something 
new to think about.” 

“That is a very good idea,” said 
Grandmother. “Give her just as good 
a time as you possibly can. The girl 
is sick right now.” 

A lunch basket was packed and off 

242 


Mother Goose Express 243 

the children started. It was just the 
kind of a day to be in the woods. 
There was a tinge of autumn in the 
air; hickory nuts and walnuts were 
bursting their outer shells; and friendly 
squirrels scampered from tree to tree 
as they gathered their harvest. 

After a walk of an hour or so, the 
children found the vines in a pretty 
little glen, where a stream of water ran 
under wide-spreading elm-trees. 

“The important part of a picnic is 
always the lunch,” said Jack, wisely. 
“It is time to unpack the basket.” 

Girls of fifteen, even when they have 
trouble, get hungry in the woods, and 
Dorothy decided that Jack’s suggestion 
was a very good one. They were busy 
putting the finishing touches to the 
table, when right behind them they 
heard a good, hearty, well-developed 


244 The Golden Palace 

sneeze; and on turning around saw a 
fat-faced boy, with a turned-up nose, 
looking at them. He had on a pointed 
cap, a well-worn velvet coat, knee 
breeches, and shoes with big brass 
buckles on them. Sticking out from 
his pocket was an instrument that 
looked like a flute. 

He stared at them so, and looked so 
funny, that Jack, without meaning to 
be impolite, called out. 

“Hello! Who are you ?” 

“Tom,” answered the boy, conclu- 
sively and with decision. 

“Tom what?” asked Jack. 

“The Piper’s son, of course. There 
never was but one of me.” 

It occurred to Jack that he was not 
being very polite, so he said, “Won’t 
you sit down and have some lunch 
with us ? ” 


Mother Goose Express 24.5 

“Can’t, ” answered the boy. "'Got 
to find Jack and Dorothy, over at the 
village.” 

“Why, that is who we are,” said 
Jack. 

“Queen Nepta, otherwise known as 
Little Green Lady, your godmother ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“Good enough for me,” said the boy. 
“Ain’t goin’ any farther. You’re the 
ones I’m looking for. Here’s your 
letter, and please pass the jam.” 

While Tom was trying to find the 
shortest way to the bottom of the jar 
of jam, Jack opened the letter, and 
read: 

“Mother Goose requests the com- 
pany of Jack and Dorothy at her 
residence in Mother Goose Land, this 
afternoon at two o’clock.” 

“But where is Mother Goose 


246 The Golden Palace 

Land ?” asked Dorothy, “and how are 
we to get there ?” 

“That’s what I’m for,” put in Tom. 
“I’m to show you the way.” 

“Is there time for us to get there by 
two o’clock,” asked Jack. “Perhaps 
we ought not to wait to eat ? ” 

“Oh, there’s lots of time for that,” 
said Tom, who had finished the jam, 
and was half through with the cake. 
“It won’t take more than a minute to 
eat what you’ve got here.” 

Jack thought he had brought a 
pretty good-sized lunch, but before he 
and Dorothy had fairly started, Tom 
had finished the last mouthful. 

“Well,” said Tom, wiping his mouth 
on his sleeve, “that wasn’t so bad after 
all. And now we have all had a good 
dinner, let’s start.” 

Dorothy had been watching Tom in 


Mother Goose Express 247 

amazement. “Wonder why he did not 
eat the dishes, too,” she said softly to 
Jack. 

“Guess he did not see them,” said 
Jack with a grin, as he hid the basket 
in some bushes, and with Dorothy 
started after Tom the Piper’s son, 
who was stalking off through the 
woods. 

“Do you suppose he still steals 
pigs ? ” whispered Dorothy. 

“You might ask him,” replied Jack, 
but Dorothy concluded she wouldn’t 
better. 

They soon reached a very large tree, 
the trunk of which was as big as a 
small house, and it was so high, and 
the branches were so thick, that they 
could not see the top of it. 

“I never saw this tree before,” said 
Jack. 


248 The Golden Palace 

"No,” said Tom the Piper’s Son. 
“It has only been here for a day. It 
is a fairy tree.” 

While they were talking, there 
walked from the other side of the tree 
a remarkable looking bird. It was a 
very tall stork, and he was dressed in 
a pea-green coat, a bright-red vest, and 
a pair of yellow trousers. His eyes 
were shaded by large spectacles. He 
walked up to the children with an 
important air. 

“Well, well! What do you want 
here ? ” 

“We are on our way to Mother 
Goose Land. I should think you would 
know me by this time,” answered Tom, 
crossly. 

“Indeed,” replied the stork, in a su- 
perior manner, “I have other things to 
do than notice all the little boys that 


Mother Goose Express 249 

pass. Have you tickets for these other 
young persons ? ” 

Tom felt through his clothes and 
finally found them in a pocket which 
also contained a top, an all-day sucker, 
a few marbles, and the remains of 
Dorothy’s jelly cake. The tickets 
looked a little the worse for wear. 

The stork eyed them suspiciously, 
but took out a punch, and having 
punched them, handed them back; 
then he knocked very loudly on the 
tree with his bill. Immediately a part 
of the bark of the tree swung open like 
a door, showing a long flight of stairs. 
Tom started to climb them and the 
children followed. 

When they reached the top they 
found themselves in a large meadow, 
and near them was a small house, with 
a platform in front of it, that looked 


250 The Golden Palace 

like a railroad station. There was a 
sign painted on the building, 

“Mother Goose Express.” 

“How often do the trains run?” 
asked Jack. 

“There comes the train now,” 
grinned Tom, pointing to a flock of 
large white geese flying toward them. 

As the geese drew nearer, they no- 
ticed that there were twelve in all, and 
that each four were harnessed together 
and trailing a long broom behind them, 
and the leading goose in each team 
was ridden by a jockey-looking brownie. 
The geese flew directly toward them, 
and with much honking alighted on 
the platform. 

“All aboard!” shouted one of the 
brownies. 

“Get on your brooms,” called Tom. 


Mother Goose Express 251 

“What ?” gasped Dorothy in amaze- 
ment. 

“Get on your brooms/’ repeated 
Tom, impatiently. “We shall be late 
if you don’t hurry,” and he fixed him- 
self astride one of the brooms, and 
grasped the handle firmly. 

“Guess that is what we shall have 
to do,” said Jack, in some dismay. 

Dorothy had been through a good 
many adventures, and no one had ever 
accused her of being timid, but this 
was almost too much for her. “It is 
worse than the cows on Dairy Hill,” 
she gasped. 

“It won’t hurt you,” said the Brow- 
nie driver, reassuringly, “I’ll drive very 
carefully.” 

There seemed to be no way out of 
it, so Dorothy followed the example of 
Jack, who was already seated on his 


252 The Golden Palace 

broom; and with a great flapping of 
wings the geese started. 

How those long-necked birds did go 
through the air! It quite took the 
children’s breath away, and Dorothy 
was so frightened that she almost fell 
off. If that were driving carefully, 
Dorothy wondered what it would be 
like if her Brownie were not careful. 

After they had ridden a while, how- 
ever, both of the children felt much 
more comfortable, and really had some 
pleasure out of it. It seemed as though 
they were miles up in the air, and they 
could see hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, 
and towns, far beneath. Twice they 
went through clouds, and Dorothy was 
much surprised to find them only great 
banks of fog. 

At last the geese began to fly lower, 
and came to the ground in front of 


Mother Goose Express 253 

two large gates in a very high wall. 
Over the gate was the sign: 

“ Mother Goose Land” 

Watching the gate was another stork, 
dressed like the one at the tree. 

Tom then commenced another search 
for the tickets, and after they were 
found and punched, the gates were 
opened, and the children were allowed 
to pass through. 


CHAPTER XXV 

THE OLD WOMAN THAT LIVED IN A 
SHOE 

J ACK and Dorothy saw so many 
wonderful things that afternoon, 
that they could never remember half 
of them. 

The first thing they noticed after they 
passed through the gates was a small 
building, with this sign in front of it: 

RESTAURANT 
Jack Sprat and Wife, 
Proprietors 

Music at all meals by Thomas Tucker , 
vocalist 

Adjoining this establishment was a 

*54 


Old Woman in a Shoe 255 

lunch counter run by little Jack Horner. 
Tom said Master Horner was his own 
best customer. 

They also met Miss Nannie Netti- 
coat, who was secretary of the Mother 
Goose Land Electric Light Company. 

At the next corner, Tom showed 
them, with much pride, a butcher shop, 
in which he said he had a half interest. 
Dorothy was much interested in the 
sign, 

"SPECIAL BARGAINS IN PORK.” 

Tom also said he held an important 
place in his father’s orchestra, which, 
next to King Cole’s, was the finest in 
the country. 

Humpty Dumpty kept a farmer’s 
produce store, and made a specialty of 
eggs. Little Polly Flinders was a chim- 
ney sweep, and Miss Muffet had so 


256 The Golden Palace 

changed her ways that she kept a curio 
store, and sold horned-toads and taran- 
tulas. 

“To think of really seeing all these 
people,” said Dorothy. “And look 
there, what is that?” She pointed to 
a curious misshapen building across 
the street. 

“It is in the form of a shoe,” ex- 
claimed Jack. 

Sure enough, there was a shoe, seven 
stories high, and every window and 
door was filled with children. There 
were children on the roof, children 
climbing the chimneys, children sliding 
down the toe of the shoe, and the num- 
ber of children in the yard, climbing 
up the trees and sitting on the fence, 
they couldn’t even count. 

They were such queer-looking chil- 
dren! Fat and thin; short and tall; 


Old Woman in a Shoe 257 

some with hair and some without; 
some with one arm and some with 
none. Some looked as though they 
had been through a threshing machine, 
and others looked as though they had 
just come out of a railroad wreck. 
But the most peculiar thing about 
them was the queer way in which they 
moved. A few of them walked like 
ordinary children, but most of them 
moved their arms and legs with a jerk; 
some joints moved one way, and some 
another. Some knees did not bend at 
all, and others would bend both for- 
ward and back with great ease. 

“What in the world is the matter 
with those children, Tom?” asked 
Dorothy, in amazement. 

“First place, 9 taint in the world,” 
answered Tom, impudently, “It’s 
Mother Goose Land; second place, 


258 The Golden Palace 

they ain’t children — that is, regular 
children — they’re dolls.” 

Just then a plump, motherly-looking 
old lady came out of the door in the 
toe of the shoe, and walked up to 
them. 

“I think this must be Dorothy and 
Jack,” she said cordially. I under- 
stood that you were to be here this 
afternoon. I am the Old-Woman-that 
lived-in-a-shoe. You may have read 
something about me. Mother Goose, 
you know, poked fun at me in one of 
her jingles. You didn’t expect to find 
so many children, did you? No; I 
don’t spank them. Goodness knows 
they get enough of that before they 
ever come to me. Yes; they are dolls. 
Out in the world, when children do not 
take care of their dolls and lose them, 
my boys always find them and bring 


Old Woman in a Shoe 259 

them to me. I suppose Tom brings 
me from five to ten every week. 

“Yes,” she continued, answering the 
question she could see in the children’s 
faces, they “become children when 
they get here. Such poor little dears 
as many of them are when they reach 
me. I wish all the little girls in the 
world could come here and see the poor 
things, I am sure they would never be 
cruel to them again.” 

Dorothy’s cheeks burned. “Oh,” 
she said. “I have been so wicked with 
my dolls. I know you have some of 
mine here, but really and truly I’ll be 
better. I’ll never be bad to a dolly 
again.” 

Then she gave a scream. “There 
is poor old Sophy!” The Old-woman- 
that-lived-in-a-shoe looked up, to see a 
large rag-doll-little-girl, with only one 


260 The Golden Palace 


arm, come up to where they were 
standing. Dorothy took her in her 
arms and cried over her, while she 
covered her face with kisses. 

“Oh, Sophy! Sophy! I was so bad 
to you! You poor, poor dear! To 
think you are a little girl!” She held 
her off at arm’s length and looked at 
her; then she cried again. 

“Sophy, I did love you if I was bad 
to you, and I didn’t mean to be 
bad!” 

Sophy had been Dorothy’s favorite 
doll years ago, and Dorothy had lit- 
erally most loved her to death, until, 
one day, she lost her down on the beach 
and Tom had found her and carried 
her to the “Shoe.” 

“Sophy looks much better than she 
did when she first came,” said the 
Old-Woman. 


Old Woman in a Shoe 261 


“I know it,” said Dorothy, “but I 
was afraid to say it. Oh dear! I am 
afraid both arms were gone when I 
lost her.” 

“That is true,” said the Old-Woman, 
“and she has been under Dr. Foster’s 
care ever since she came. She had to 
be planted in Mistress Mary’s garden 
for a month, to grow one arm, and as 
soon as there is room, next spring, she 
will have to be planted again to grow 
another. How would you like to be 
planted ? ” asked the Old-Woman some- 
what sternly to Dorothy. 

“Oh, I know,” answered Dorothy, 
“and I have learned my lesson. I 
think I will never forget again.” Then 
she said eagerly, “Can’t Sophy come 
back to me ? I want to be good to 
her.” 

“No,” said the Old-Woman, “when 


262 The Golden Palace 


a doll that has been lost once comes 
here, she can never go back again.” 

“I think you are better off here any- 
way,” said Dorothy, remorsefully. 

A new thought came to her. “Is 
Neptita here, too ? ” 

The Old-Woman smiled. “I think 
that is why Mother Goose sent for you. 
You will learn about Neptita when you 
see her.” 

“It is time we were there, now,” 
said Tom the Piper’s Son, so they said 
good-by to the Old-Woman-that-lived 
in-a-shoe and to Sophy, and Tom led 
the way down a path through some trees, 
and our twins followed. 

They soon came in sight of a fine 
house with tall gables and quaint win- 
dows. They walked up to the main 
entrance, where they were met by 
another stork gate-keeper; and for a 


Old Woman in a Shoe 263 

third time, after a vigorous hunt, Tom 
produced the tickets. It is fortunate 
that this was the last time they were 
needed, for they were so covered with 
many luncheons and had received such 
rough usage that the stork could hardly 
read them. However, he let them 
pass, and a page ushered them into 
Mother Goose’s reception room. It 
was a long hall lighted by small leaded 
windows, dark oak beams showed in 
the ceiling, and the hangings at the 
doors were dingy with age. 

The walls were frescoed in cool 
greens and browns, with scenes from 
Mother Goose’s immortal rhymes. At 
one end of the room was a beautifully 
carved chair, in which sat Mother 
Goose herself. 


CHAPTER XXVI 

MOTHER GOOSE 

J ACK and Dorothy had lived in the 
palace of the King of Nussuchplace 
for a month, had met on familiar terms 
King Tib, King Grumpy, and Old 
King Cole, and had even been in the 
presence of the Little Green Lady her- 
self, but they confessed afterwards, that 
they were never so filled with awe as 
when they stood before Mother Goose 
that afternoon. 

Tom the Piper’s son evidently shared 
the feeling, for he made a profound 
bow before her, and respectfully stood 
one side. Jack and Dorothy then 

264 


Mother Goose 265 

advanced and made their bows, and 
waited for Mother Goose to speak. 

“Are you Jack and Dorothy, the 
godchildren of the Little Green Lady ? ” 
she asked. 

“Yes, Madam,” answered Jack; not 
quite sure how to address the great 
lady. 

“You are nice-looking children,” 
said Mother Goose, “and I think I 
shall like you real well if you won’t 
call me ‘madam.’ Dorothy, do you 
know why you are here ; why you were 
sent for ? ” 

“No; Mother Goose,” she replied, 
“I don’t. All that we know is what 
was said in the invitation.” 

“A few days ago,” commenced 
Mother Goose, “I received a letter 
from Queen Nepta, whom most people 
know as the Little Green Lady. She 


266 The Golden Palace 

told me about giving you a doll — 
which you, I believe, named Neptita. 
She said she had heard that you had 
lost it, and that one of the boys that 
work for the Old-Woman-that-lived-in- 
a-shoe had found it, and had brought 
it here to my country. Now she has 
asked me to take up the case, and find 
out just how much you are to blame in 
the matter. I think,” added Mother 
Goose, “that she feels very badly about 
it.” 

Dorothy commenced to explain, when 
Mother Goose stopped her. 

“Just wait a minute. I have sent 
for all the different people I thought 
would know anything about it, and 
they are all here now, except two, and 
I think we would better wait for them.” 

While she was talking a page en- 
tered. “There are a sea-sprite and a 


Mother Goose 267 

doll at the gate, who desire admission,” 
he announced. 

“Tell them to enter,” said Mother 
Goose, and in walked Neptita and bad 
Master Crankle. 

Dorothy’s visit to the “Shoe” had 
prepared her for seeing Neptita a little 
girl, yet she looked so sweet and pretty 
in her nice new frock that Dorothy 
hardly knew her, but as soon as she 
was sure that it was really Neptita, she 
ran to her and held out both her hands, 

“Oh, Neptita,” she cried, “tell them 
that I did take good care of you. I 
was bad when I had poor Sophy, but 
I was good to you, wasn’t I, dear ? ” 

Mother Goose held up her hand 
warningly. “Wait a minute,” she said. 
“One story at a time. I think you 
might as well tell yours first, Dorothy.” 

Though very much frightened, Doro- 


268 The Golden Palace 


thy told simply, and in a few words, 
all she knew about it. That she had 
gone to sleep with Neptita in her arms, 
and when she woke the doll was gone; 
that she and Jack had looked through 
the house, barn, and yard, and every 
other place they could think of, but 
could not find her. 

When she had finished, Mother 
Goose turned to the Piper’s son and 
said, “Now, Tom, you may tell me 
what you know about it.” 

“Well,” said Tom, “I was kind o’ 
browsin’ around, lookin’ for dolls for 
the Old-Woman, and as I went by the 
house where this girl lives, I heard a 
dog barkin’. I thought maybe he 
was worryin’ a doll, but I didn’t go in 
right away, as the dog looked several 
sizes too large for me, but he mosied 
off after somethin’ else, and I went in, 


Mother Goose 269 

and there, sure ’nough, was the nicest 
lookin’ doll I ever seed” — here he 
winked naughtily at Neptita — “ lyin’ 
on the grass, and so I picked her up, 
and carted her off to the ‘Shoe.’” 

“Now, Neptita,” said Mother Goose 
— “for I suppose that is to be your 
name — what do you know about it ?” 

“You know,” said Neptita, “at that 
time I was only a doll, and so I might 
not have kept things quite straight in 
my mind, but I do know that Dorothy 
was very good to me, indeed. On the 
last afternoon I was with her, she put 
me in a little bed her brother had 
made for me, up on a closet shelf. I 
think I must have gone to sleep, for I 
know of nothing more until I woke 
and found myself out in the yard, and 
the big dog barking at me.” 

“But, Neptita,” put in Dorothy, “I 


2 jo The Golden Palace 

took you down from the shelf, and 
took you to bed with me.” 

“That may be,” said Mother Goose, 
“and Neptita may have been asleep 
at the time. We have another person 
here, however, who says he can tell 
us all about it. Tell us your story, 
Crankle.” 

Crankle had always been envious of 
Jack and Dorothy, and for a long time 
had been planning mischief. This was 
the chance for which he had been 
waiting. 

“I was walking past that young 
lady’s house one evening,” he began, 
smiling wickedly at Dorothy, “and I 
saw her bring out her doll in a little 
bed. She put the bed on the ground, 
and sat beside her for a little while, 
and then an old lady came to the 
door and called her. Dorothy got up 


Mother Goose 271 

and went into the house. I went past 
the house just at dark, and saw the 
doll still lying in the little bed in the 
yard, and that is all I know about it.” 

Mother Goose looked very grave. 
“Some one,” she said, “has not been 
telling the truth. Neptita says she 
went to sleep in her little bed in the 
afternoon; Crankle says he saw Doro- 
thy bring her in her little bed out in 
the yard and go off and leave her, and 
that, later, he saw the doll still there; 
Tom says he passed the house still 
later, and that a dog was barking at a 
doll there in the yard. Dorothy, if 
you did forget and leave your doll out, 
it would be a great deal better for you 
to tell the truth about it. It was bad 
enough for you to forget the doll, but 
to tell an untruth about it — ” Mother 
Goose stopped short, for there was a 


272 The Golden Palace 

tremendous racket outside, a loud 
splash, and a very badly scared page 
came running in. 

“ Mother Goose, 55 he cried, “ there 
is another sea-urchin out there trying 
to get in. He did not have any ticket 
and the stork told him you were busy 
and could not see him. He would not 
go away but tried to run through the 
gate; the stork then flew into his face, 
and the sea-urchin picked the stork up 
and threw him into the lemonade lake; 
then the porter tried to stop him and 
they are fighting now.” 

While the page was talking the noise 
grew louder and louder, and suddenly 
a sea-urchin dashed through the door, 
hatless, his coat in tatters, and his 
face and hands covered with dirt and 
blood. 


CHAPTER XXVII 
crinkle’s story 

“ f | A HIS is disgraceful!” cried 
JL Mother Goose, starting to her 
feet. 

“I should say it was!” panted the 
dirty sea-urchin. 

“What do you mean by coming into 
my presence in this condition?” con- 
tinued Mother Goose. 

“It isn’t my fault,” gasped the in- 
truder. “I had plenty of clothes on 
when I started. Your old doorkeepers 
have the rest of them now.” 

“Why, Crinkle!” said Mother Goose, 
finally recognizing the dirty sea-urchin 
before her. “What does this mean? 

*73 


274 The Golden Palace 

If you wanted to see me it was not 
necessary for you to do all this.” 

Crinkle looked down at his hands 
and what was left of his clothes. “I 
know this looks pretty tough, but if 
you will give me a minute I will try to 
tell you all about it.” 

“You may have the minute,” replied 
Mother Goose, “and certainly some 
explanation is quite necessary.” 

“I hate to do it,” said Crinkle, “but 
I am going to tell on somebody. There 
is no other way out of it. I was the 
one who delivered the birthday pack- 
ages to Jack and Dorothy. Crankle 
was to have gone, but he didn’t. He 
does not like Jack and Dorothy, and 
has made all sorts of threats against 
them.” 

“It’s a lie,” shouted Crankle, jump- 
ing to his feet. 


Crinkle’s Story 275 

“Crankle,” said Mother Goose, 
sternly,” you have had your say; now 
it is Crinkle’s turn to talk. Tom, will 
you please see that Crankle does not 
interrupt us again, and also see that 
he doesn’t leave his seat. Proceed with 
your story, Crinkle.” 

“Well,” said Crinkle, “you see, 
Crankle and I sleep in the same room 
in the Little Green Lady’s palace. 
One night, not long after I had taken 
the presents to Jack and Dorothy, when 
Crankle thought I was asleep, he 
climbed out of the window, caught one 
of the sea-horses and rode away. I 
thought he was up to some mischief, 
so I took another horse and started 
after him. He rode straight to the 
village where the children live, and as 
soon as he got ashore he went up to 
their house, and I after him. 


276 The Golden Palace 

“He looked all around the yard, and 
then noticed that the window of Doro- 
thy’s room was open. He climbed 
over the kitchen roof, and through the 
window. When he came out he had 
Neptita in his arms. He climbed 
down, and started around the house, 
when a big dog jumped at him, then 
he dropped the doll and ran away. 

“It isn’t so,” again interrupted 
Crankle. 

Tom, who had been holding him in 
his chair, glared at him fiercely. “Shut 
up,” he said, “or I’ll punch your ugly 
head.” 

“Crinkle,” said Mother Goose, “can 
you prove what you have told us ? ” 

“I can this far,” replied Crinkle. 
“When Crankle ran away from the 
dog, he lost one of his slippers, I picked 
it up, and here it is.” At this Crinkle 


Crinkle’s Story 277 

put his hand in his pocket, pulled out 
the slipper and waved it in triumph. 
“I think you can still find in Dorothy’s 
yard the footprints that will fit it. I 
took our doorkeeper to see them the 
next night, and he will tell you the same 
thing. I did not say anything about it 
before, because I was trying to find 
the doll. Another boy picked it up, 
and ran so fast I could not catch him, 
and keep out of Crankle’s sight at the 
same time. 

While Crinkle had been talking, 
Crankle had been showing great un- 
easiness, and by the time Crinkle had 
finished, he was furious. 

“It is a lie!” he shouted. “You 
are a thief your own self. You stole 
my shoe. I don’t care if I did take 
the old doll. I wish I had broken her 
neck.” 


278 The Golden Palace 

“That will do!” thundered Mother 
Goose. “Tom, take this boy up to 
Number Fourteen and lock him up. 
We will let the Little Green Lady 
attend to his case.” 

Crankle would have made a fuss if 
he had dared, but he had a wholesome 
respect for Tom’s muscles, and walked 
out in sullen silence. 

“He is a very wicked boy,” said 
Mother Goose, when he was gone. 

“Indeed he is,” said Neptita. 

“I am sorry I had to break in so, 
Mother Goose,” put in Crinkle, “but 
our doorkeeper told me that Dorothy 
was being tried for the murder of 
Neptita, and that Crankle had been 
sent for, to tell what he knew about it, 
and I was afraid if I didn’t get to see 
you in time, Dorothy would be hanged.” 

Everybody laughed, and Mother 


Crinkle’s Story 279 

Goose said, “Well, Crinkle, you cer- 
tainly reached us in time. If I ever 
have an errand that needs unusual 
haste I will send for you, and I think 
I can forgive you for your abrupt en- 
trance, but you would better go and 
apologize to Mr. Stork and the porter. 

“Yes, Mother Goose,” said Crinkle, 
meekly. 

“And I think I would better apolo- 
gize to Dorothy/’ continued Mother 
Goose, “for what I said to her.” Doro- 
thy, my dear, I cannot tell you how 
happy I am that we learned the truth 
about this dreadful affair, and that I 
can send such a good report of you to 
the Little Green Lady.” 

“Oh, Mother Goose,” said Neptita, 
“can’t I go back to Bonadventure, and 
live with Dorothy ? ” 

“ Dear little girl,” said Mother Goose, 


280 The Golden Palace 

“I wish you could, but even Mother 
Goose’s powers have limits. I could, 
perhaps, overrule the laws of my king- 
dom and let you return to Bonadven- 
ture; but, Dorothy, if Neptita should 
go back with you, she could no longer 
be a little girl but just a doll again, of 
wires, kid, bisque, and sawdust. Would 
you want that to happen ? ” 

“No, no,” cried Dorothy. “That 
would be worse than losing her in the 
first place. But it is hard, Mother 
Goose, when it was not a bit my 
fault.” 

“My dear,” replied Mother Goose, 
“don’t I know that it was not ? Don’t 
I know how little girls and big girls, 
too, feel about such things ? It is like 
when your hand accidentally touches 
the stove; it may not be your fault, 
but if the burn was severe enough, the 


Crinkle’s Story 281 

scar remains. Still, good can come, 
sometimes, even from a burn. I know 
a story in rhyme, as all Mother Goose 
stories should be, that I might tell you 
about a girl who was glad of a burn, 
only there is not time to-day. Now 
about our little friend here — this nice 
dolly you had hoped always to keep — ” 
and she put her hand on Neptita’s curls, 
“you see good has come out of that, 
too. And the memory of the dear 
little girl, whom you can think of as 
fastening drooping stockings and wash- 
ing little faces in the Shoe, or helping 
me with my rhymes — that will help 
some, won’t it ?” 

It was pretty hard for Dorothy and 
Neptita, however, with all the thought- 
ful things kind-hearted Mother Goose 
could say, to think that they must part 


so soon. 


282 The Golden Palace 


“Surely I may come to see her!” 
said Dorothy, imploringly. 

“I wish you could,” said Mother 
Goose, “but I am afraid that is im- 
possible, too — unless — Dorothy dear, 
I am going to tell you what no other 
little girl in all the world knows. You 
and Jack are the only mortals who 
have ever been here, and this has hap- 
pened only through your fairy god- 
mother and can never happen in just 
this way but once. There is another 
way, and because of your love for Nep- 
tita, I will tell you. Now, listen care- 
fully. 

“On Midsummer Night, when there 
is a moon that shines at midnight, 
stand in a meadow that is on a hill 
where clover grows, make a circle about 
you as big across as you are tall, of 
white-petaled daisies, put fern seed in 


Crinkle’s Story 283 

your slippers and wear poppies in your 
hair. Then repeat slowly, 

O poppies bright, 

O daisies white, 

That grow for fairies’ use — 

O moonbeams light, 

Take me this night 
Straight off to Mother Goose. 

Then look hard at the moon, and count 
sixty-six, without winking, and down 
a moonbeam will come the white geese 
of the Mother Goose Express, to carry 
you off to my kingdom for a day.” 

That made the parting of the big 
girl and the little one much easier, and 
with many promises of what they would 
do to see each other again, they gave 
their farewell hugs and kisses. 

A half-hour later, Crinkle, Jack, and 
Dorothy were on their broomsticks of 
the Mother Goose Express, headed for 


284 The Golden Palace 

the big tree. They reached Big Tree 
Station without accident, found the 
stairway, ran down the steps, and al- 
most fell over Mr. Stork, who was 
asleep at the foot. 

As for Crankle, it may be told here 
that the Little Green Lady took him 
in charge. When a lady happens to 
be queen, she has a good deal of in- 
fluence over a small sea scamp. No 
one knew what happened, but Crankle 
took a trip to Neverland, and Aunt 
Trot wrote Dorothy that she saw him 
learning to cut wood in the forest, with 
the bad counselors. A long time after- 
wards, when he returned to the Coral 
Court, he was so quiet and mild- 
mannered that his old acquaintances 
scarcely knew him. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE HUNDRED ISLANDS 

I T was Grandmother who announced 
it, although even she had no idea 
what a tremendous thing it was going 
to be. 

It was about a week after the chil- 
dren’s trip to Mother Goose land; they 
had been to school all day, in the grove, 
and on their return found the old 
people on the porch, waiting for 
them. 

“We start in the morning,” said 
Grandmother. She meant to speak 
calmly, but Dorothy could see from 
the way her hands trembled, as she 


286 The Golden Palace 


tried to hide them under her knitting, 
that something very unusual had hap- 
pened. 

“Yes/’ added Grandfather, “the 
Little Green Lady said we must start 
as early as we could, conveniently/’ 
Grandfather was talking from behind 
a book, but as the book was held up- 
side down, Jack decided that his air 
of not caring much was assumed. 

“Her Majesty sent word that we 
might take you children if you would 
promise to be good,” said Grand- 
mother. 

“Were they not to be quiet, too?” 
commenced Grandfather, but he got no 
farther, for Dorothy sat down suddenly 
on his knees and said : 

“What is it ? What is it ? What is 
it ?” and Jack said: 

“Grandmother, if you don’t tell us 


The Hundred Islands 287 

what all this mystery is about, I’ll kiss 
you, this instant.” 

After teasing the children a little 
longer, the old people told their 
story. 

They had had a visit that day from 
no less important a personage than 
Seradale, the Little Green Lady’s sec- 
retary. 

“It was the most startling news,” 
said Grandmother. “Queen Nepta is 
to leave the throne and a new ruler is 
to be crowned in the Coral Court of 
the Hundred Islands.” 

“What!” cried Jack in alarm. “You 
do not mean the Little Green Lady is 
dead, do you ? ” 

“No,” answered Grandmother, “but 
there is something very strange about 
it, nevertheless.” 

“Seradale said that her Majesty felt 


288 The Golden Palace 


that she was growing old,” put in 
Grandfather, “and that she was tired 
of being queen.” 

“I’m sure I do not feel too old to 
be a queen,” said Grandmother, “and 
I believe I have had twice as many 
brithdays as the Little Green Lady.” 

“Fairy books say that fairies do not 
show their age,” said Dorothy, with an 
air of much wisdom. “If the Little 
Green Lady really is a fairy, perhaps 
she is older than she looks.” 

“If she is a fairy, that is all the more 
reason for her still being queen,” said 
Grandmother. “No, it must be some- 
thing else and I suppose we shall know 
about it when we get there.” 

“When do we start ? ” asked Dorothy. 

“How do we get there ?” asked Jack. 

“Does Crinkle go with us?” said 
Dorothy. 


The Hundred Islands 289 

“Is the secretary still here?” 

These were just a few of the questions 
the children asked all in a minute and 
without waiting for an answer. 

Grandfather laughed and held up 
his hands. “Wait a minute and I will 
tell you. We go on the magic raft. 
No, Crinkle does not accompany us. 
The secretary has gone and we start 
early in the morning. Now, run and 
get your clothes ready, for we are all 
to wear our very bravest things.” 

The voyage on the raft, the next 
morning, was much the same to Jack 
and Dorothy as the others had been; 
but it was a decided novelty to their 
grandparents. 

“How fast it goes!” said Grand- 
mother. 

“And without any one to guide it!” 
said Grandfather. 


290 The Golden Palace 

“It does not splash water over us 
half as bad as I thought it would,” 
and Grandmother stroked the front of 
her best black silk skirt. 

“ Jack,” said Grandfather, gravely, 
“this is every bit as interesting as 
running a grist-mill.” 

Whether it was having the old folks 
along for company, or whether it was 
because the children had become so 
accustomed to the faithful old raft, the 
voyage seemed the shortest the young 
people had ever taken. Dorothy was 
just getting ready to take a long, lazy 
rest in the shadow of the striped sail, 
when Grandfather shouted, 

“Land, ho!” 

Jack and Dorothy thought they had 
seen great gatherings of people in 
Neverland and Nussuchplace, but the 
tremendous crowd that lined the shores. 


The Hundred Islands 291 

as the raft neared the wharf, was many 
times larger than any they had ever 
seen before. 

“What a lot of people !” said Grand- 
father. 

“Look at all the boats !” cried 
Grandmother. 

“There is the Pipe and Bowl!” 
called Jack. 

“And the shell of the Little Green 
Lady!” added Dorothy. 

“I see Crinkle!” cried Grandfather. 

“Look! Look! Grandmother,” said 
Dorothy, tremendously excited . ‘ ‘ There 
is Boritz, the soldier I told you about. 
Jack! Do you know those fine ladies 
with him? They are Aunt Trot and 
Aunt Tilly. How do you suppose they 
got here ? ” 

By this time eager hands had moored 
the raft by the side of the pier, and the 


292 The Golden Palace 

crowd surged toward them. The visi- 
tors certainly had no occasion to com- 
plain of their welcome. 

Plump Aunt Tilly almost hugged the 
breath out of Dorothy, and Boritz gave 
Jack such a cordial slap on the back, 
that the boy’s teeth rattled. 

How they did talk and ask questions! 
Grandmother was half scared by the 
crowd, and put herself under Aunt 
Trot’s protection. Grandfather found 
a soldier from Neverland, who had 
seen the Pie and Cake Palace, and he 
laughed over the man’s story until tears 
ran down his cheek. 

“How is it,” asked Jack of Crinkle, 
“that the Nussuchplace people are 
talking our language ? We could not 
understand them at all at King Grum- 
py’s palace until we had eaten the red 
tarts. ’ 


The Hundred Islands 293 

“Can’t you guess?” replied Crinkle. 
“It’s easy. As you know, the people 
of Bonadventure, Neverland, and the 
Hundred Islands talk the same lan- 
guage. When visitors come here from 
Nussuchplace, Queen Nepta sends each 
one a blue tart, then they can talk our 
language, but forget their own; when 
they go home they eat a red one, and 
their own tongue comes back to them. 
But we must hurry. Great things are 
happening at the palace, and the big 
folks are waiting for you.” 

“What is the matter, Crinkle?” 
whispered Dorothy. “ I feel that some- 
thing dreadful is going to happen to- 
day. Is Queen Nepta ill?” 

“No, indeed,” laughed Crinkle. 
“Her Majesty was never in better 
health. Don’t you worry, for the things 
that are going to happen to-day are 


294 The Golden Palace 

what a girl ought to call ‘perfectly 
lovely’ — only we must hurry.” 

“We’re coming,” said Jack. “Here, 
Grandmother, let me take your arm. 
Grandfather, you and Dorothy go 
first.” 

So the procession started. At the 
palace door they were met by a mag- 
nificent-looking soldier in uniform, who 
made them a low bow, and then led 
them through a beautiful hall to a door, 
where another wonderful soldier took 
them in charge. They followed him 
until they met a grand personage, who 
carried a long white rod. He took 
them through a room or two, and turned 
them over to a still grander-looking 
noble, who carried two white rods. 

“Is that the man who is to be the 
new king?” asked Grandmother of 
Crinkle. 


The Hundred Islands 295 

Crinkle shook his head and grinned 
from ear to ear, and the man’s face 
grew as red as a turkey-cock’s. 


CHAPTER XXIX 

KING JACK AND PRINCESS 
DOROTHY 

T last the visitors came to the 



JTjL throne room, and were met by 
the queen’s secretary. Seradale held 
up her hand warningly. “The Im- 
perial Court is in session,” she said. 
“As godchildren of Queen Nepta, you, 
Jack and Dorothy, will take seats as 
members of the court, and you too,” 
bowing to Grandfather and Grand- 
mother, “have places reserved for you 
as members of the royal family.” 

At these words Grandmother 
blushed, and looked as pretty and 
pleased as a girl, and whispered to 
Dorothy, “Wasn’t it fortunate that I 


King Jack 297 

wore my best bonnet ? ” Grandfather 
buttoned up the shining brass buttons 
of his long-tailed, blue coat, and seemed 
quite as much pleased as Grandmother 
was. Then they followed an usher 
who took them into the great room, 
lined on all sides with important looking 
people. 

In the center of the room, on a dais 
and under a canopy of gold, was the 
imperial throne, on which sat Queen 
Nepta — for in her royal robes she 
looked far too grand to be called the 
Little Green Lady. As the newcomers 
took their seats, her Majesty rose to 
speak. 

“Friends,” she said, “as you know, 
we are here to confirm the selection of 
the king of the Coral Court of the 
Hundred Islands. 

“This is the last day of my reign. 


298 The Golden Palace 

My subjects are very dear to me, and 
yet I am happy in seeing my place 
taken by him who will come after me. 
According to the time-honored custom 
of this court, it is quite fitting at this 
time, for any of those present, who 
wish it, to make suggestions regarding 
our new king/’ 

“Boritz would make a good king,” 
whispered Jack to Dorothy. 

“I think Grandfather would make a 
better one,” replied his sister. 

“Oh, so do I,” said Jack. “Grand- 
father, would you like to be king ? ” 

Before he could answer some one in 
a corner of the hall rose to speak. He 
was a big man as to head and shoulders, 
but as to height, he was shorter than 
Dorothy. However, what he lacked in 
inches, he made up in voice. 

“I know the boy,” he said in a roar 


King Jack 299 

that sounded strangely familiar to the 
children. “Now I have a lot of coun- 
selors that call themselves wise men, 
wise men! and they don’t know what 
makes more noise than a pig under a 
gate.” 

“It’s Geradar,” gasped Dorothy. 

The speaker continued, “Now that 
boy Jack knows more than all my wise 
men put together. Oh, he is a good 
one, and his sister is too. They got 
a ring away from me, but I got a 
room full of gold from what they 
told me. Yes, Jack is the boy for 
the job.” 

Geradar had hardly taken his seat, 
when another little fellow rose to his 
feet. It was King Grumpy. “I want 
to warn this court,” he said in a squeaky 
voice, “that there is just one danger 
about that boy. If he were king, he 


300 The Golden Palace 

would make every one in the kingdom 
eat pie and cake — and — well — you 
ought to know how a fellow feels the 
next morning.” 

The people all laughed as King 
Grumpy sat down, and then a fat man 
as big as Geradar and Grumpy put 
together slowly raised himself to his 
feet. It was Old King Cole. He was 
chuckling and laughing so he could 
hardly talk. 

“ That’s all right; that’s all right,” 
he said. “ Don’t pay too much atten- 
tion to what Cousin Grumpy says. 
The trouble with him is he has dyspep- 
sia. When Jack is king I am going to 
move over to his palace, and eat pie 
for breakfast every morning.” 

King Cole’s speech caused another 
laugh, and then up jumped, whom do 
you think ? King Tib. He had grown 


King Jack 301 

since Jack and Dorothy had last seen 
him, and he looked every inch a king, 
but his voice had the same jolly note 
that it had when he played ball in the 
palace court at Neverland. 

“What King Cole says is all right. 
Jack is the finest fellow that ever lived, 
and Dorothy is the nicest girl. They 
took me out of prison, and brought the 
children back from Terribel. If you 
want to know what kind of a king Jack 
would make, ask the mothers of Never- 
land” 

Then a lady with a long pointed cap, 
short skirt, and silver-buckled shoes, 
took the floor. “It shall never be said 
that Mother Goose let the men do all 
the talking. I agree with King Tib. 
If you ask the mothers they will say 
‘Hurrah for King Jack/ and if you 
ask the children — and I know chil- 


302 The Golden Palace 

dren — they will say, * Hurrah for the 
Princess Dorothy 

Mother Goose was followed by King 
Grumpy’s wife, who had some nice 
things to say about the children, and 
when she had finished, Queen Nepta 
stood in her place by the imperial 
throne. 

“For years,” she began, “I have 
been looking after the welfare of my 
two friends, Jack and Dorothy. I am 
sure that none of you have been sur- 
prised that I should have grown fond 
of two such attractive young people. 
What you have said here to-day shows 
that they have won a place in your 
hearts as well as mine. However, it is 
not alone the lighter bond of friendship 
that has drawn me to them. Their 
claim to my love is the greatest that 
human affection may know; and now 


King Jack 303 

that the time has come for public 
annnouncement, I proclaim it with very 
much pride — Jack of Bonadventure is 
my own son, and Dorothy is my daugh- 
ter ” 

Queen Nepta paused, and for a 
moment it was so quiet that one might 
fancy that he heard the sand trickle in 
the hour-glass on Mistress Seradale’s 
table; then a storm of cheers that 
seemed to shake the building filled the 
air, and above the clapping of hands 
and hurrahing could be heard the roar 
of Geradar, “I told you so. Didn’t I 
tell you so? It takes royal blood to 
know what makes more noise than a 
pig under a gate.” 

When it was quiet again two ushers 
came over to Jack and Dorothy, and 
before the bewildered children could 
realize just what was happening, they 


304 The Golden Palace 

were standing before the great throne, 
and Queen Nepta was saying, “My 
boy and girl, when you were tiny 
babies, your father died. As a boy 
he had been brought up in a little 
village like Bonadventure. He thought 
a palace was a poor place in which to 
raise children, and it was his wish that 
you children should live for sixteen 
years as a village boy and girl, in 
ignorance of your royal birth. He felt 
that with such training, when you came 
to the throne you would understand 
the poor among your people as well as 
the rich. The years of preparation are 
now passed, for by the laws of the 
Coral Court, you, Jack, were to become 
king of the Hundred Islands when you 
had reached the age of sixteen years 
and sixteen days.” 

At this the children exchanged 


King Jack 305 

troubled glances. Queen Nepta no- 
ticed it and laughed. “I know, you 
think you are fifteen, but you have 
counted time from the day the wave 
washed you ashore on Bonadventure 
beach. You were just a year old at 
that time. 

“I can scarcely tell,” went on Queen 
Nepta, “how hard those years of sepa- 
ration have been for me — but there 
was comfort in knowing that you 
were well and happy, and that the 
good people you called your grand- 
parents loved you very dearly. And 
now that we must take you from 
Bonadventure you need have no fears 
that you will lose a grandfather and 
grandmother; instead, you only gain a 
mother, who — loves you — very dearly, 
too. 

“Grandfather is the best man in the 


3q 6 The Golden Palace 

world,” said Jack, forgetting his shy- 
ness over his unexpected honors, in the 
thought of the old miller. 

“And Grandmother is the best — ” 
began Dorothy — then she stopped and 
looked much confused — but went on 
bravely. “I think there must be two 
best women in the world.” At last 
overcome with the rush of feeling that 
the great queen before her was really 
her mother, she put both her arms 
around the Little Green Lady’s neck, 
and her tears wet her mother’s 
cheek. 

“Jack,” said Queen Nepta, putting 
her hands on her boy’s shoulder, “I 
am the happiest woman in the world. 
Kiss your mother, Jack.” 

Then the cheering began again. The 
nobles bared their swords, and held the 
shining blades above their heads, and 


King Jack 307 


they all cried, “ Long live Queen Nepta! 
Long live Jack and Dorothy! Long 
live our boy king!” 


















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